Patterns of Use and Key Predictors for the Use of Wearable Health Care Devices by US Adults: Insights from a National Survey

Abstract

Background Despite the growing popularity of wearable health care devices (from fitness trackes such as Fitbit to smartwatches such as Apple Watch and more sophisticated devices that can collect information on metrics such as blood pressure, glucose levels, and oxygen levels), we have a limited understanding about the actual use and key factors affecting the use of these devices by US adults. Objective The main objective of this study was to examine the use of wearable health care devices and the key predictors of wearable use by US adults. Methods Using a national survey of 4551 respondents, we examined the usage patterns of wearable health care devices (use of wearables, frequency of their use, and willingness to share health data from a wearable with a provider) and a set of predictors that pertain to personal demographics (age, gender, race, education, marital status, and household income), individual health (general health, presence of chronic conditions, weight perceptions, frequency of provider visits, and attitude towards exercise), and technology self-efficacy using logistic regression analysis. Results About 30% (1266/4551) of US adults use wearable health care devices. Among the users, nearly half (47.33%) use the devices every day, with a majority (82.38% weighted) willing to share the health data from wearables with their care providers. Women (16.25%), White individuals (19.74%), adults aged 18-50 years (19.52%), those with some level of college education or college graduates (25.60%), and those with annual household incomes greater than US $75,000 (17.66%) were most likely to report using wearable health care devices. We found that the use of wearables declines with age: Adults aged >50 years were less likely to use wearables compared to those aged 18-34 years (odds ratios [OR] 0.46-0.57). Women (OR 1.26, 95% CI 0.96-1.65), White individuals (OR 1.65, 95% CI 0.97-2.79), college graduates (OR 1.05, 95% CI 0.31-3.51), and those with annual household incomes greater than US $75,000 (OR 2.6, 95% CI 1.39-4.86) were more likely to use wearables. US adults who reported feeling healthier (OR 1.17, 95% CI 0.98-1.39), were overweight (OR 1.16, 95% CI 1.06-1.27), enjoyed exercise (OR 1.23, 95% CI 1.06-1.43), and reported higher levels of technology self-efficacy (OR 1.33, 95% CI 1.21-1.46) were more likely to adopt and use wearables for tracking or monitoring their health. Conclusions The potential of wearable health care devices is under-realized, with less than one-third of US adults actively using these devices. With only younger, healthier, wealthier, more educated, technoliterate adults using wearables, other groups have been left behind. More concentrated efforts by clinicians, device makers, and health care policy makers are needed to bridge this divide and improve the use of wearable devices among larger sections of American society.

Evaluating health technology engagement among family caregivers of patients undergoing hematopoietic cell transplantation

“…Our data suggest relatively high adoption of digital health technology (e.g., tness trackers, smartwatches, mobile apps) among HCT caregivers in this national sample. Caregiver use of tness trackers in our sample (40-65%) was slightly higher compared with digital health technology use among the general adult public, as reported in other studies (20-30%) [17,38]. There may be possible explanations for higher use of digital health technology (e.g., tness tracker, smartwatches, mobile apps) among caregivers [35].…”

“…Additionally, caregiving for six months or greater was associated with use of fewer apps compared with caregiving for less than six months in both unadjusted (OR = 0.66, p < 0.005) and adjusted (OR = 0.80, p < 0.005) models. [17,[33][34][35][36]. However, to our knowledge, these variables ( tness tracker, smartwatches and number of apps)…”

“…have not been explored in the context of caregivers of patients undergoing HCT. With the rapid insurgence of telehealth, propelled by the current COVID-19 pandemic, having a better understanding of health technology is important for future study design [17,33,36,37].…”

“…Prior studies have documented demographic predictors of wearables and mHealth apps, such as age (younger), income (higher), education (college), gender (female), and race (white) [17,18]. However, use of wearables and mHealth applications among caregivers of patients with cancer has not been widely studied to our knowledge [19].…”

Monitoring Patients Reported Outcomes after Valve Replacement Using Wearable Devices: Insights on Feasibility and Capability Study: Feasibility Results

“…A recent US national survey on the use of wearable healthcare devices showed that 82.38% of the people involved in the study are willing to share their health data recorded by their WDs with their healthcare professionals [ 4 ]. The use of these technologies tends to decline with advancing age, although the elderly, especially those with a chronic disease, are one of the populations that could benefit most from continuous monitoring in their daily setting.…”