CONCLUSIONS Utilizing a consumer-based wearable activity tracker as either the primary component of an intervention or as part of a broader physical activity intervention has the potential to increase physical activity participation .
BACKGROUND The range of benefits associated with regular physical activity participation is irrefutable .
Despite the well-known benefits , physical inactivity remains one of the major contributing factors to ill-health throughout industrialized countries .
Traditional lifestyle interventions such as group education or telephone counseling are effective at increasing physical activity participation ; however , physical activity levels tend to decline over time .
Consumer-based wearable activity trackers that allow users to objective ly monitor activity levels are now widely available and may offer an alternative method for assisting individuals to remain physically active .
OBJECTIVE This review aim ed to determine the effects of interventions utilizing consumer-based wearable activity trackers on physical activity participation and sedentary behavior when compared with interventions that do not utilize activity tracker feedback .
mActive: A Randomized Clinical Trial of an Automated mHealth Intervention for Physical Activity Promotion
Background We hypothesized that a fully automated mobile health ( mHealth ) intervention with tracking and texting components would increase physical activity . Methods and Results mActive enrolled smartphone users aged 18 to 69 years at an ambulatory cardiology center in Baltimore , Maryl and . We used sequential r and omization to evaluate the intervention 's 2 core components . After establishing baseline activity during a blinded run‐in ( week 1 ) , in phase I ( weeks 2 to 3 ) , we r and omized 2:1 to unblinded versus blinded tracking . Unblinding allowed continuous access to activity data through a smartphone interface . In phase II ( weeks 4 to 5 ) , we r and omized unblinded participants 1:1 to smart texts versus no texts . Smart texts provided smartphone‐delivered coaching 3 times/day aim ed at individual encouragement and fostering feedback loops by a fully automated , physician‐written , theory‐based algorithm using real‐time activity data and 16 personal factors with a 10 000 steps/day goal . Forty‐eight out patients ( 46 % women , 21 % nonwhite ) enrolled with a mean±SD age of 58±8 years , body mass index of 31±6 kg/m2 , and baseline activity of 9670±4350 steps/day .  Daily activity data capture was 97.4 % . The phase I change in activity was nonsignificantly higher in unblinded participants versus blinded controls by 1024 daily steps ( 95 % confidence interval [ CI ] , −580 to 2628 ; P=0.21 ) . In phase II , participants receiving texts increased their daily steps over those not receiving texts by 2534 ( 95 % CI , 1318 to 3750 ; P<0.001 ) and over blinded controls by 3376 ( 95 % CI , 1951 to 4801 ; P<0.001 ) . Conclusions An automated tracking‐texting intervention increased physical activity with , but not without , the texting component . These results support new mHealth tracking technologies as facilitators in need of behavior change drivers . Clinical Trial Registration URL : http:// Clinical Trials.gov/. Unique identifier : NCT01917812
CONCLUSIONS Utilizing a consumer-based wearable activity tracker as either the primary component of an intervention or as part of a broader physical activity intervention has the potential to increase physical activity participation .
BACKGROUND The range of benefits associated with regular physical activity participation is irrefutable .
Despite the well-known benefits , physical inactivity remains one of the major contributing factors to ill-health throughout industrialized countries .
Traditional lifestyle interventions such as group education or telephone counseling are effective at increasing physical activity participation ; however , physical activity levels tend to decline over time .
Consumer-based wearable activity trackers that allow users to objective ly monitor activity levels are now widely available and may offer an alternative method for assisting individuals to remain physically active .
OBJECTIVE This review aim ed to determine the effects of interventions utilizing consumer-based wearable activity trackers on physical activity participation and sedentary behavior when compared with interventions that do not utilize activity tracker feedback .