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. 2021 Oct 29:2:757080.
doi: 10.3389/fragi.2021.757080. eCollection 2021.

The Effect of Commercial Activity Tracker Based Physical Activity Intervention on Body Composition and Cardiometabolic Health Among Recent Retirees

Tuija Leskinen  1   2 , Kristin Suorsa  1   2 , Ilkka Ha Heinonen  3   4 , Eliisa Löyttyniemi  5 , Jaana Pentti  1   2   6 , Jussi Vahtera  1   2 , Sari Stenholm  1   2
Affiliations

The Effect of Commercial Activity Tracker Based Physical Activity Intervention on Body Composition and Cardiometabolic Health Among Recent Retirees

Tuija Leskinen et al. Front Aging. .

Abstract

The REACT is a commercial activity tracker based intervention, which primarily aimed to increase physical activity. This study examines the secondary outcomes of the physical activity intervention on body composition and cardiometabolic health indicators. Overall 231 recently retired Finnish men and women [65.2 (SD 1.1) years, 83% women] took part to the study. The participants were randomized into intervention (n = 117) and control (n = 114) groups. The intervention group members used a commercial activity tracker (Polar Loop 2, Polar, Kempele, Finland) with a daily activity goal and inactivity alerts every day for 12 months. Controls received no intervention. Secondary health outcomes included body weight, fat mass, fat free mass, waist circumference, blood pressure, indicators of glucose and lipid metabolisms, and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, and they were measured at baseline and at 12-months end point. Hierarchical linear mixed models were used to examine the differences between the groups over time, and no differences in the mean changes of the body composition and cardiometabolic health indicators between the groups were found (group*time interaction >0.20 for all measures). Fat free mass, waist circumference, blood pressure, and low density lipoprotein levels decreased in both groups over the 12 months. These findings state that 1-year daily use of commercial activity tracker does not induce different cardiometabolic health effects when compared to the non-user controls among general population of recent retirees.

Keywords: activity tracker; body composition; metabolism; older adults; physical activity; randomized controlled trial.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
The change in body weight (A), fat free mass (B), waist circumference (C), and body fat percent (D) over the 12 months for the intervention (solid line) and control (dotted line) groups. Results are expressed as means and 95% CIs based on mixed models.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
The change in systolic blood pressure (A), diastolic blood pressure (B), HDL-to-total cholesterol ratio (C), and low-density lipoprotein levels (D) over the 12 months for the intervention (solid line) and control (dotted line) groups. Results are expressed as means and 95% CIs based on mixed models.
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