Cited by 134Physical Activity and HealthMobile Health and mHealth ApplicationsContext-Aware Activity Recognition Systems

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Effectiveness of Wearable Trackers on Physical Activity in Healthy Adults: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

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Tang, Matilda Swee Sun, Moore, Katherine, McGavigan, Andrew, Clark, Robyn A, Ganesan, Anand N·2020·JMIR mhealth and uhealth

DOI 10.2196/15576PMC PMC7407266

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Abstract

BACKGROUND: Wearable trackers are an increasingly popular tool among healthy adults and are used to facilitate self-monitoring of physical activity. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to systematically review the effectiveness of wearable trackers for improving physical activity and weight reduction among healthy adults. METHODS: This review used the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) methodology and reporting criteria. English-language randomized controlled trials with more than 20 participants from MEDLINE, CINAHL, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, PubMed, and Scopus (2000-2017) were identified. Studies were eligible for inclusion if they reported an intervention group using wearable trackers, reporting steps per day, total moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, activity, physical activity, energy expenditure, and weight reduction. RESULTS: Twelve eligible studies with a total of 1693 participants met the inclusion criteria. The weighted average age was 40.7 years (95% CI 31.1-50.3), with 64.4% women. The mean intervention duration was 21.4 weeks (95% CI 6.1-36.7). The usage of wearable trackers was associated with increased physical activity (standardized mean difference 0.449, 95% CI 0.10-0.80; P=.01). In the subgroup analyses, however, wearable trackers demonstrated no clear benefit for physical activity or weight reduction. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that the use of wearable trackers in healthy adults may be associated with modest short-term increases in physical activity. Further data are required to determine if a sustained benefit is associated with wearable tracker usage.

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Figure 2 Forest plot of standardized mean difference (95% CI) in the effect of wearable trackers on physical activity.CC BY · PubMed Central

Figure 4 Forest plot of standardized mean difference (95% Cl) in the effect of wearable trackers on weight loss for intervention and control group.CC BY · PubMed Central

Figure 5 Forest plot of standardized mean difference (95% CI) in the effect of wearable trackers on physical activity in overweight adults.CC BY · PubMed Central

Figure 6 Forest plot of standardized mean difference (95% CI) in the effect of wearable trackers on healthy adults.CC BY · PubMed Central

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Additional file 8 of Effects of Consumer-Wearable Activity Tracker-Based Programs on Objectively Measured Daily Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior Among School-Aged Children: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
Casado-Robles, C., Viciana, J., Guijarro-Romero, S., & Mayorga-Vega, D. (2022) · Figshare · doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.19102032
Additional file 14 of Revisiting the concept of bout: associations of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity sessions and non-sessions with mortality
Ma, T., Sirard, J. R., Yang, L., Li, Y., Tsang, S., & Fu, A. (2024) · Figshare · doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.26755543
Additional file 2 of Revisiting the concept of bout: associations of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity sessions and non-sessions with mortality
Ma, T., Sirard, J. R., Yang, L., Li, Y., Tsang, S., & Fu, A. (2024) · Figshare · doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.26402055
Additional file 4 of Revisiting the concept of bout: associations of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity sessions and non-sessions with mortality
Ma, T., Sirard, J. R., Yang, L., Li, Y., Tsang, S., & Fu, A. (2024) · Figshare · doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.26755513
Additional file 6 of Effects of Consumer-Wearable Activity Tracker-Based Programs on Objectively Measured Daily Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior Among School-Aged Children: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
Casado-Robles, C., Viciana, J., Guijarro-Romero, S., & Mayorga-Vega, D. (2022) · Figshare · doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.19102026
Additional file 2 of Effects of Consumer-Wearable Activity Tracker-Based Programs on Objectively Measured Daily Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior Among School-Aged Children: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
Casado-Robles, C., Viciana, J., Guijarro-Romero, S., & Mayorga-Vega, D. (2022) · Figshare · doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.19102014
Additional file 11 of Effects of Consumer-Wearable Activity Tracker-Based Programs on Objectively Measured Daily Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior Among School-Aged Children: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
Casado-Robles, C., Viciana, J., Guijarro-Romero, S., & Mayorga-Vega, D. (2022) · Figshare · doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.19102008
Additional file 8 of Revisiting the concept of bout: associations of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity sessions and non-sessions with mortality
Ma, T., Sirard, J. R., Yang, L., Li, Y., Tsang, S., & Fu, A. S. (2024) · Figshare · doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.26755525
Additional file 13 of Revisiting the concept of bout: associations of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity sessions and non-sessions with mortality
Ma, T., Sirard, J. R., Yang, L., Li, Y., Tsang, S., & Fu, A. (2024) · Figshare · doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.26755540
Additional file 3 of Revisiting the concept of bout: associations of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity sessions and non-sessions with mortality
Ma, T., Sirard, J. R., Yang, L., Li, Y., Tsang, S., & Fu, A. (2024) · Figshare · doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.26755510
Additional file 1 of Effects of Consumer-Wearable Activity Tracker-Based Programs on Objectively Measured Daily Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior Among School-Aged Children: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
Casado-Robles, C., Viciana, J., Guijarro-Romero, S., & Mayorga-Vega, D. (2022) · Figshare · doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.19102011
Additional file 5 of Revisiting the concept of bout: associations of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity sessions and non-sessions with mortality
Ma, T., Sirard, J. R., Yang, L., Li, Y., Tsang, S., & Fu, A. (2024) · Figshare · doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.26755516
Additional file 3 of Effects of Consumer-Wearable Activity Tracker-Based Programs on Objectively Measured Daily Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior Among School-Aged Children: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
Casado-Robles, C., Viciana, J., Guijarro-Romero, S., & Mayorga-Vega, D. (2022) · Figshare · doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.19102017
Additional file 10 of Revisiting the concept of bout: associations of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity sessions and non-sessions with mortality
Ma, T., Sirard, J. R., Yang, L., Li, Y., Tsang, S., & Fu, A. (2024) · Figshare · doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.26755531
Additional file 5 of Effects of Consumer-Wearable Activity Tracker-Based Programs on Objectively Measured Daily Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior Among School-Aged Children: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
Casado-Robles, C., Viciana, J., Guijarro-Romero, S., & Mayorga-Vega, D. (2022) · Figshare · doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.19102023
Additional file 9 of Effects of Consumer-Wearable Activity Tracker-Based Programs on Objectively Measured Daily Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior Among School-Aged Children: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
Casado-Robles, C., Viciana, J., Guijarro-Romero, S., & Mayorga-Vega, D. (2022) · Figshare · doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.19102035
Additional file 4 of Effects of Consumer-Wearable Activity Tracker-Based Programs on Objectively Measured Daily Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior Among School-Aged Children: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
Casado-Robles, C., Viciana, J., Guijarro-Romero, S., & Mayorga-Vega, D. (2022) · Figshare · doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.19102020
Additional file 9 of Revisiting the concept of bout: associations of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity sessions and non-sessions with mortality
Ma, T., Sirard, J. R., Yang, L., Li, Y., Tsang, S., & Fu, A. (2024) · Figshare · doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.26755528
Additional file 1 of Wearable Devices to Improve Physical Activity and Reduce Sedentary Behaviour: An Umbrella Review
Longhini, J., Marzaro, C., Bargeri, S., Palese, A., Dell’Isola, A., Turolla, A., Pillastrini, P., Battista, S., Castellini, G., Cook, C., et al. (2024) · Figshare · doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.24997198
Additional file 11 of Revisiting the concept of bout: associations of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity sessions and non-sessions with mortality
Ma, T., Sirard, J. R., Yang, L., Li, Y., Tsang, S., & Fu, A. (2024) · Figshare · doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.26755534
Additional file 12 of Revisiting the concept of bout: associations of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity sessions and non-sessions with mortality
Ma, T., Sirard, J. R., Yang, L., Li, Y., Tsang, S., & Fu, A. (2024) · Figshare · doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.26755537
Additional file 7 of Revisiting the concept of bout: associations of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity sessions and non-sessions with mortality
Ma, T., Sirard, J. R., Yang, L., Li, Y., Tsang, S., & Fu, A. (2024) · Figshare · doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.26755522
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Authors: Tang, M. S. S., Moore, K., McGavigan, A., Clark, R. A., & Ganesan, A. N.
Affiliations: Flinders University (AU)
Corresponding author: Ganesan, Anand N
ORCID: Tang, Matilda Swee Sun
Moore, Katherine
McGavigan, Andrew
Clark, Robyn A
Ganesan, Anand N
Venue: JMIR mhealth and uhealth
Publisher: JMIR Publications Inc.
Published: 2020-07-22
Volume: 8
Issue: 7
Pages: e15576
ISSN: 2291-5222 (ISSN-L)
DOI: 10.2196/15576
PMC: PMC7407266
OpenAlex: W3025555717
Cited by: 134
References: 37
Citations by year: 2026: 17 · 2025: 24 · 2024: 36 · 2023: 18 · 2022: 32 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 2
FWCI: 1.78
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: gold
doi.org
Licence: cc-by
Locations: JMIR mhealth and uhealth (publishedVersion, cc-by)
PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
PubMed (publishedVersion)
DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Funders: National Heart Foundation of Australia (APP ID. 100847, 100847)
Topics: Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Physical Activity and Health
Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Mobile Health and mHealth Applications
Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition › Context-Aware Activity Recognition Systems
Keywords: wearable activity trackers, physical activity, self-monitoring, weight loss, energy expenditure, healthy adults, step count, moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, mobile health intervention
MeSH terms: Fitness Trackers, Adult, Health Status, Humans, Weight Loss, Exercise, Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic

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Effectiveness of Wearable Trackers on Physical Activity in Healthy Adults: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

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