TY  - JOUR
AU  - Larsen, Lisbeth Hoejkjaer
AU  - Lauritzen, Maja Hedegaard
AU  - Sinkjaer, Mikkel
AU  - Kjaer, Troels W
PY  - 2022
DA  - 2022/3/15
TI  - The Effect of Wearable Tracking Devices on Cardiorespiratory Fitness Among Inactive Adults: Crossover Study
JO  - JMIR Cardio
SP  - e31501
VL  - 6
IS  - 1
KW  - activity tracking
KW  - cardiorespiratory fitness
KW  - mHealth
KW  - mobile health
KW  - motivation
KW  - physical activity
KW  - self-monitoring
KW  - wearable
KW  - cardio
KW  - fitness
KW  - cardiorespiratory
KW  - behavior change
AB  - Background: Modern lifestyle is associated with a high prevalence of physical inactivity. Objective: This study aims to investigate the effect of a wearable tracking device on cardiorespiratory fitness among inactive adults and to explore if personal characteristics and health outcomes can predict adoption of the device. Methods: In total, 62 inactive adults were recruited for this study. A control period (4 weeks) was followed by an intervention period (8 weeks) where participants were instructed to register and follow their physical activity (PA) behavior on a wrist-worn tracking device. Data collected included estimated cardiorespiratory fitness, body composition, blood pressure, perceived stress levels, and self-reported adoption of using the tracking device. Results: In total, 50 participants completed the study (mean age 48, SD 13 years, 84% women). Relative to the control period, participants increased cardiorespiratory fitness by 1.52 mL/kg/minute (95% CI 0.82-2.22; P<.001), self-reported PA by 140 minutes per week (95% CI 93.3-187.1; P<.001), daily step count by 982 (95% CI 492-1471; P<.001), and participants’ fat percentage decreased by 0.48% (95% CI –0.84 to –0.13; P=.009). No difference was observed in blood pressure (systolic: 95% CI –2.16 to 3.57, P=.63; diastolic: 95% CI –0.70 to 2.55; P=.27) or perceived stress (95% CI –0.86 to 1.78; P=.49). No associations were found between adoption of the wearable tracking device and age, gender, personality, or education. However, participants with a low perceived stress at baseline were more likely to rate the use of a wearable tracking device highly motivating. Conclusions: Tracking health behavior using a wearable tracking device increases PA resulting in an improved cardiorespiratory fitness among inactive adults. 
SN  - 2561-1011
UR  - https://cardio.jmir.org/2022/1/e31501
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2196/31501
UR  - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35289763
DO  - 10.2196/31501
ID  - info:doi/10.2196/31501
ER  -