The Effect of Physical Activity Interventions Comprising Wearables and Smartphone Applications on Physical Activity: a Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Abstract

BackgroundWorldwide physical activity levels of adults are declining, which is associated with increased chronic disease risk. Wearables and smartphone applications offer new opportunities to change physical activity behaviour. This systematic review summarizes the evidence regarding the effect of wearables and smartphone applications on promoting physical activity.MethodsPubMed, EMBASE and Cochrane databases were searched for RCTs, published since January 2008, on wearables and smartphone applications to promote physical activity. Studies were excluded when the study population consisted of children or adolescents, the intervention did not promote physical activity or comprised a minor part of the intervention, or the intervention was Internet-based and not accessible by smartphone. Risk of bias was assessed by the Cochrane collaboration tool. The primary outcome was changed in physical activity level. Meta-analyses were performed to assess the pooled effect on (moderate-to-vigorous) physical activity in minutes per day and daily step count.ResultsEighteen RCTs were included. Use of wearables and smartphone applications led to a small to moderate increase in physical activity in minutes per day (SMD = 0.43, 95% CI = 0.03 to 0.82; I2 = 85%) and a moderate increase in daily step count (SMD = 0.51, 95% CI = 0.12 to 0.91; I2 = 90%). When removing studies with an unclear or high risk of bias, intervention effects improved and statistical heterogeneity was removed.ConclusionsThis meta-analysis showed a small to moderate effect of physical activity interventions comprising wearables and smartphone applications on physical activity. Hence, wearables and smartphone applications are likely to bring new opportunities in delivering tailored interventions to increase levels of physical activity.

Effects of an Activity Tracker and App Intervention to Increase Physical Activity in Whole Families—The Step It Up Family Feasibility Study

“…Notably, parents are early adopters of wearable activity trackers and the number one motivating reason for using these devices is ‘improving health’ [ 20 ]. Recent systematic reviews [ 21 , 22 , 23 ] have shown that interventions using activity trackers combined with apps can effectively increase physical activity in children and adults. The popularity of activity trackers and apps in the general population and their proven efficacy in both children and adults suggest that this technology has great potential to promote physical activity in families.…”

P5 eHealth: An Agenda for the Health Technologies of the Future

“…For example, wearable devices, such activity and sleep trackers and blood pressure and heart monitors, bring new possibilities in delivering effective and tailored behavioral change interventions to increase the frequency and intensity of physical exercise. Results of a recent meta-analysis showed that behavioral change interventions comprising both wearable devices and mobile applications are effective in promoting physical activity, measured through objective measure and daily step count, in the general population (Gal et al 2018).…”

“…Informal caregivers and the healthcare team are automatically contacted if necessary. As mentioned above, accelerometer, activity and sleep trackers, blood and heart rate sensors, and step counter integrated in many smartphones are useful wearable devices that foster the possibilities of new eHealth preventive efforts to increase behavioral change, especially in terms of increasing physical exercise (Gal et al 2018). Self-monitoring is also an effective way to promote weight management for the prevention of obesity and overweight problems in adult populations (Burke et al 2011;Madigan et al 2015;Zheng et al 2015).…”

“…Furthermore, most people are very likely to adhere to an eHealth preventive program only for a short time. However, it is possible to take advantage of the motivational capacity of entertainment content, gamification, and games to keep users engaged (Craig Lefebvre et al 2010;Gal et al 2018;Graffigna et al 2014;McCallum 2012;Sardi et al 2017). As the P5 approach suggests, the use of entertainment content and gamification has been adopted as one of the four core strategies of many eHealth prevention interventions.…”

The Prevention of Chronic Diseases Through eHealth: A Practical Overview

“…Informal caregivers and the healthcare team are automatically contacted if necessary. As mentioned above, accelerometer, activity and sleep trackers, blood and heart rate sensors, and step counter integrated in many smartphones are useful wearable devices that foster the possibilities of new eHealth preventive efforts to increase behavioral change, especially in terms of increasing physical exercise (Gal et al 2018). Self-monitoring is also an effective way to promote weight management for the prevention of obesity and overweight problems in adult populations (Burke et al 2011;Madigan et al 2015;Zheng et al 2015).…”