TY - GEN
T1 - Activity Trackers
T2 - 25th European Medical Informatics Conference, MIE 2014
AU - Lee, Jeon
AU - Finkelstein, Joseph
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2014 European Federation for Medical Informatics and IOS Press.
PY - 2014
Y1 - 2014
N2 - The wearable consumer health devices can be mainly divided into activity trackers, sleep trackers, and stress management devices. These devices are widely advertised to provide positive effects on the user's daily behaviours and overall heath. However, objective evidence supporting these claims appears to be missing. The goal of this study was to review available evidence pertaining to performance of activity trackers. A comprehensive review of available information has been conducted for seven representative devices and the validity of marketing claims was assessed. The device assessment was based on availability of verified output metrics, theoretical frameworks, systematic evaluation, and FDA clearance. The review identified critical absence of supporting evidence of advertised functions and benefits for the majority of the devices. Six out of seven devices did not provide any information on sensor accuracy and output validity at all. Possible underestimation or overestimation of specific health indicators reported to consumers was not clearly disclosed to the public. Furthermore, significant limitations of these devices which can be categorized into user restrictions, user responsibilities and company disclaimers could not be easily found or comprehended by unsophisticated users and may represent a serious health hazard.
AB - The wearable consumer health devices can be mainly divided into activity trackers, sleep trackers, and stress management devices. These devices are widely advertised to provide positive effects on the user's daily behaviours and overall heath. However, objective evidence supporting these claims appears to be missing. The goal of this study was to review available evidence pertaining to performance of activity trackers. A comprehensive review of available information has been conducted for seven representative devices and the validity of marketing claims was assessed. The device assessment was based on availability of verified output metrics, theoretical frameworks, systematic evaluation, and FDA clearance. The review identified critical absence of supporting evidence of advertised functions and benefits for the majority of the devices. Six out of seven devices did not provide any information on sensor accuracy and output validity at all. Possible underestimation or overestimation of specific health indicators reported to consumers was not clearly disclosed to the public. Furthermore, significant limitations of these devices which can be categorized into user restrictions, user responsibilities and company disclaimers could not be easily found or comprehended by unsophisticated users and may represent a serious health hazard.
KW - Consumer health informatics
KW - activity tracker
KW - review
KW - validity
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84929505510&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84929505510&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3233/978-1-61499-432-9-558
DO - 10.3233/978-1-61499-432-9-558
M3 - Conference contribution
C2 - 25160247
AN - SCOPUS:84929505510
T3 - Studies in Health Technology and Informatics
SP - 558
EP - 562
BT - e-Health - For Continuity of Care - Proceedings of MIE 2014
A2 - Pape-Haugaard, Louise
A2 - Seroussi Brigitte, Brigitte
A2 - Saka, Osman
A2 - Lovis, Christian
A2 - Hasman, Arie
A2 - Andersen, Stig Kjaer
PB - IOS Press
Y2 - 31 August 2014 through 3 September 2014
ER -