Projektdetails

Health and fitness Apps based on movement data from wearable technologies or smartphones have become increasingly popular in consumer markets. Most wearables use movement sensors to provide biomechanical measurements to quantify physical activity. Similarly, the built-in sensors of smartphones enable users to monitor, record and receive feedback on their health-related parameters without connecting to any additional device. From a public health perspective, the potential for personalized health interventions and the scalability of digital tools offers great opportunities.

In this project, we examine activity tracking devices based on both wearables and smartphones that operate movement sensors. There has been a rapid growth in the use of wearable activity trackers in research and clinical practice to support behavior change. However, it is unclear if interventions using smartphone-based activity trackers demonstrate similar behavioral outcomes or health benefits as wearable-based interventions. Previous research focuses primarily on the acceptability, utility, and preferences aspects of activity trackers. Furthermore, when designing an intervention based on a smartphone or wearable, there is still insufficient evidence on critical contextual factors. In this project, we want to investigate some contextual factors contributing to the behavior change, health benefits, usage patterns, and long-term engagement of using an activity tracker.

Currently, this project consists of three empirical studies:

I.          Systematic review of controlled trials, investigates the effectiveness of interventions using wearable or smartphone-based activity trackers in prevention settings.

II.         Systematic review of observational studies, explores the individual-level determinates and correlates of initiating and continuing to use wearable or smartphone-based activity trackers.

III.         Observational field study through a web-based questionnaire, examines the prevalence and determinants of using wearable or smartphone-based activity trackers in the real world.

This work will generate novel insights into the comparison of using smartphone-based activity trackers or wearable-based activity trackers. Additionally, it will examine the evidence base of each intervention by identifying the Behavior Change Techniques used in the interventions. The aspect of health equity and the “digital divide” will be explored in each study. This project aims to contribute to future intervention design and guidelines on best practices for activity trackers in healthcare.