National physical activity surveillance: Users of wearable activity monitors as a potential data source

Abstract

The objective of this study was to assess usage patterns of wearable activity monitors among US adults and how user characteristics might influence physical activity estimates from this type of sample. We analyzed data on 3367 respondents to the 2015 HealthStyles survey, an annual consumer mail panel survey conducted on a nationwide sample. Approximately 1 in 8 respondents (12.5%) reported currently using a wearable activity monitor. Current use varied by sex, age, and education level. Use increased with physical activity level from 4.3% for inactive adults to 17.4% for active adults. Overall, 49.9% of all adults met the aerobic physical activity guideline, while this prevalence was 69.5% among current activity monitor users. Our findings suggest that current users of wearable activity monitors are not representative of the overall US population. Estimates of physical activity levels using data from wearable activity monitors users may be an overestimate and therefore data from users alone may have a limited role in physical activity surveillance.

Keywords: Activity monitor; Epidemiology; Physical activity; Surveillance.

Fig. 1

Prevalence of being physically active,^a by selected characteristics, for All US adults and for current users of wearable activity monitors,^b HealthStyles 2015. Note: Error bars represent the lower and upper bounds of the 95% confidence interval. ^aBeing physically active is defined as reporting ≥ 150 min/week moderate-intensity equivalent activity per week. ^bCurrent users are defined as respondents who answered “Yes, I am a current user” to the question, “Have you ever used a wearable activity monitor?”