Wearable Technology and Physical Activity Behavior Change in Adults With Chronic Cardiometabolic Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

• Published in: American Journal of Health Promotion Vol. 33; no. 5; pp. 778 - 791
• Main Authors: Kirk, Megan A., Amiri, Mohammad, Pirbaglou, Meysam, Ritvo, Paul
• Format: Book Review Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.06.2019; American Journal of Health Promotion
• Subjects: Behavior change; Bias; Cardiovascular Diseases - epidemiology; Chronic Disease; Chronic illnesses; Clinical trials; Comorbidity; Confidence intervals; Diabetes; Drugs; Exercise; Exercise - physiology; Extraction; Health promotion; Health status; Health technology assessment; Humans; Intervention; Meta-analysis; Obesity; Physical activity; Quality of Life; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; Risk assessment; Systematic review; Technology; Wearable computers; Wearable Electronic Devices; cardiovascular disease; wearable technology; diabetes; chronic disease; obesity; physical activity
• ISSN: 0890-1171; 2168-6602
• DOI: 10.1177/0890117118816278

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of wearable device interventions (eg, Fitbit) to improve physical activity (PA) outcomes (eg, steps/day, moderate to vigorous physical activity [MVPA]) in populations diagnosed with cardiometabolic chronic disease. Data Source: Based on Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses, an electronic search of 5 databases (Medline, PsychINFO, Scopus, Web of Science, and PubMed) was conducted. Study Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria: Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published between January 2000 and May 2018 that used a wearable device for the full intervention in adults (18+) diagnosed with a cardiometabolic chronic disease were included. Excluded trials included studies that used devices at pre–post only, devices that administered medication, and interventions with no prospective control group comparison. Data Extraction: Thirty-five studies examining 4528 participants met the inclusion criteria. Study quality and RCT risk of bias were assessed using the Cochrane Collaboration Tool. Data Synthesis: Meta-analyses to compute PA (eg, steps/day) and selected physical dispersion and summary effects were conducted using the raw unstandardized pooled mean difference (MD). Sensitivity analyses were examined. Results: Statistically significant increases in PA steps/day (MD = 2592 steps/day; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1689-3496) and MVPA min/wk (MD = 36.31 min/wk; 95% CI: 18.33-54.29) were found for the intervention condition. Conclusion: Wearable devices positively impact physical health in clinical populations with cardiometabolic diseases. Future research using the most current technologies (eg, Fitbit) will serve to amplify these findings.