What is it about?
Shop bought activity monitors (e.g., Fitbits) are becoming popular means to track and increase physical activity habits. This study looks to understand how accurate these devices are at measuring physical activity in older adults. We found that the shop bought devices picked up similar physical activity as research grade devices, though some performed better than others.
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Why is it important?
Due to the ever expanding market of shop bought activity monitors it is important to understand whether they are accurate at measuring physical activity habits. Due to certain design features and often a lower price, these shop bought devices maybe seen as preferable. To date, little research has explored the accuracy of these devices in older adults.
Perspectives
This is article was the first study in which I used activity monitors to measure physical activity. Prior to this study, my focus was on the design and functionality of these devices, however, in writing this article it has highlighted the importance of the data collected and available from the devices. Irrespective, it is my hope that activity monitors can be responsive to the needs of the user, whilst also being at an affordable price.
Nicolas Farina
University of Plymouth
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: The Validity of Consumer-Level Activity Monitors in Healthy Older Adults in Free-Living Conditions, Journal of Aging and Physical Activity, January 2018, Human Kinetics,
DOI: 10.1123/japa.2016-0344.
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