Should We Use Activity Tracker Data From Smartphones and Wearables to Understand Population Physical Activity Patterns?

Abstract

Researchers, practitioners, and public health organizations from around the world are becoming increasingly interested in using data from consumer-grade devices such as smartphones and wearable activity trackers to measure physical activity (PA). Indeed, large-scale, easily accessible, and autonomous data collection concerning PA as well as other health behaviors is becoming ever more attractive. There are several benefits of using consumer-grade devices to collect PA data including the ability to obtain big data, retrospectively as well as prospectively, and to understand individual-level PA patterns over time and in response to natural events. However, there are challenges related to representativeness, data access, and proprietary algorithms that, at present, limit the utility of this data in understanding population-level PA. In this brief report we aim to highlight the benefits, as well as the limitations, of using existing data from smartphones and wearable activity trackers to understand large-scale PA patterns and stimulate discussion among the scientific community on what the future holds with respect to PA measurement and surveillance.

Variability in Physical Inactivity Responses of University Students during COVID-19 Pandemic: A Monitoring of Daily Step Counts Using a Smartphone Application

“…Therefore, we speculated that the major finding of this study is not impacted by the possible systematic underestimation of the daily step counts recorded by smartphone applications [ 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 ]. Although the bias in recorded daily step count due to the reduction in the accuracy of smartphone applications has been of concern [ 51 , 52 ], we believe that the use of a smartphone application was an appropriate method to describe the variation in the physical inactivity of university students during the COVID-19 pandemic from a macroscopic perspective [ 53 ].…”

Considerations for the Use of Consumer-Grade Wearables and Smartphones in Population Surveillance of Physical Activity

“…As one of the purported benefits of surveillance using consumer wearables is that individuals are already collecting the data (Mair et al, 2021), we will first discuss issues relating to representativeness that may arise if a random probability sample was drawn from existing consumer wearable device owners.…”

“…Consumer-grade wearable devices and smartphone applications also appear to be effective components in interventions to increase activity levels (Laranjo et al, 2021). However, whether they are currently suitable for population surveillance is open for debate (Fulton et al, 2016;Mair et al, 2021;Omura et al, 2021;Strain et al, 2019). In this commentary, we will discuss four key issues that need to be tackled before consumer wearables can be considered as a potential surveillance measurement method.…”

COVID-19 Highlights the Potential for a More Dynamic Approach to Physical Activity Surveillance

“…For example, wearable users are not representative of the wider population and studies have demonstrated that wearable users are notably younger, fitter, and from higher socioeconomic backgrounds (Pontin et al, 2021;Strain et al, 2019). Two insightful commentaries in this issue ask whether consumer devices could be appropriate for population-level surveillance of physical activity (Mair et al, 2022;Strain et al, 2022). In the first commentary, Mair et al (2022) discuss the potential benefits and limitations of using consumer devices to understand population physical activity patterns across a number of different study designs, and suggest that leveraging access to retrospective data presents a unique opportunity, especially in response to natural events.…”

“…Two insightful commentaries in this issue ask whether consumer devices could be appropriate for population-level surveillance of physical activity (Mair et al, 2022;Strain et al, 2022). In the first commentary, Mair et al (2022) discuss the potential benefits and limitations of using consumer devices to understand population physical activity patterns across a number of different study designs, and suggest that leveraging access to retrospective data presents a unique opportunity, especially in response to natural events. In an invited response to Mair et al (2022), Strain et al (2022) focus on the limitations specifically for population-level surveillance and examine four key issues to tackle before inferring population level of activity from consumer devices.…”