Efficacy And Acceptability Of Using Wearable Activity Trackers In Older Adults Living In Retirement Communities

Abstract Background Wearable activity trackers may facilitate walking for chronic pain management. Objective We assessed the acceptability of a commercially available tracker and three alternative modes of reporting daily steps among older adults in a low-income, urban community. We examined whether using the tracker (Fitbit ZipTM) was associated with improvements in functioning and activity. Design Randomized controlled pilot and feasibility trial. Subjects Fifty-one African American adults in Detroit, Michigan, aged 60 to 85 years, with chronic musculoskeletal pain (28 in the intervention group, 23 controls). Methods Participants completed telephone surveys at baseline and eight weeks. Intervention participants wore trackers for six weeks, alternately reporting daily step counts via text messages, automated telephone calls, and syncing (two weeks each). We used multimethods to assess satisfaction with trackers and reporting modalities. Adherence was indicated by the proportion of expected days on which valid step counts were reported. We assessed changes in pain interference, physical function, social participation, walking frequency, and walking duration. Results More than 90% of participants rated trackers as easy to use, but some had technical or dexterity-related difficulties. Text reporting yielded 79% reporting adherence vs 69% each for automated calls and syncing. Intervention participants did not show greater improvement in functioning or walking than controls. Conclusions With appropriate support, wearable activity trackers and mHealth reporting for chronic pain self-care are feasible for use by vulnerable older adults. Future research should test whether the effects of trackers on pain-related outcomes can be enhanced by incorporating behavior change strategies and training in evidence-based cognitive-behavioral techniques.

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A Social Group-Based Information-Motivation-Behavior Skill Intervention to Promote Acceptability and Adoption of Wearable Activity Trackers Among Middle-Aged and Older Adults: Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial

JMIR mhealth and uhealth ◽

10.2196/14969 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 8 (4) ◽

pp. e14969

Author(s):

Jing Liao ◽

Hai-Yan Xiao ◽

Xue-Qi Li ◽

Shu-Hua Sun ◽

Shi-Xing Liu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Randomized Controlled Trial ◽

Social Group ◽

Controlled Trial ◽

Daily Step ◽

Middle Aged ◽

Randomized Controlled ◽

Activity Trackers ◽

Wearable Activity Trackers ◽

Cluster Randomized

Background Wearable activity trackers offer potential to optimize behavior and support self-management. To assist older adults in benefiting from mobile technologies, theory-driven deployment strategies are needed to overcome personal, technological, and sociocontextual barriers in technology adoption. Objective To test the effectiveness of a social group–based strategy to improve the acceptability and adoption of activity trackers by middle-aged and older adults. Methods A cluster randomized controlled trial was conducted among 13 groups of middle-aged and older adults (≥45 years) performing group dancing (ie, square dancing) as a form of exercise in Guangzhou from November 2017 to October 2018. These dancing groups were randomized 1:1 into two arms, and both received wrist-worn activity trackers and instructions at the baseline face-to-face assessment. Based on the Information-Motivation-Behavior Skill framework, the intervention arm was also given a tutorial on the purpose of exercise monitoring (Information), encouraged to participate in exercise and share their exercise records with their dancing peers (Motivation), and were further assisted with the use of the activity tracker (Behavior Skill). We examined two process outcomes: acceptability evaluated by a 14-item questionnaire, and adoption assessed by the uploaded step count data. Intention-to-treat analysis was applied, with the treatment effects estimated by multilevel models. Results All dancing groups were followed up for the postintervention reassessment, with 61/69 (88%) participants of the intervention arm (7 groups) and 56/80 (70%) participants of the control arm (6 groups). Participants’ sociodemographic characteristics (mean age 62 years, retired) and health status were comparable between the two arms, except the intervention arm had fewer female participants and lower cognitive test scores. Our intervention significantly increased the participants’ overall acceptability by 6.8 points (95% CI 2.2-11.4), mainly driven by promoted motivation (adjusted group difference 2.0, 95% CI 0.5-3.6), increased usefulness (adjusted group difference 2.5, 95% CI 0.9-4.1), and better perceived ease of use (adjusted group difference 1.2, 95% CI 0.1-2.4), whereas enjoyment and comfort were not increased (adjusted group difference 0.9, 95% CI –0.4-2.3). Higher adoption was also observed among participants in the intervention arm, who were twice as likely to have valid daily step account data than their controlled counterparts (adjusted incidence relative risk [IRR]=2.0, 95% CI 1.2-3.3). The average daily step counts (7803 vs 5653 steps/day for the intervention and control, respectively) were similar between the two arms (adjusted IRR=1.4, 95% CI 0.7-2.5). Conclusions Our social group–based deployment strategy incorporating information, motivation, and behavior skill components effectively promoted acceptability and adoption of activity trackers among community-dwelling middle-aged and older adults. Future studies are needed to examine the long-term effectiveness and apply this social engagement strategy in other group settings or meeting places. Trial Registration Chinese Clinical Trial Registry ChiCTR-IOC-17013185; https://tinyurl.com/vedwc7h.

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Predicting Daily Physical Activity Level for Older Adults Using Wearable Activity Trackers

Lecture Notes in Computer Science - Human Aspects of IT for the Aged Population. Social Media, Games and Assistive Environments ◽

10.1007/978-3-030-22015-0_47 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 602-614 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Yaqian Zheng ◽

Junfei Xie ◽

Tri Van Thanh Vo ◽

Byung Cheol Lee ◽

Toyin Ajisafe

Keyword(s):

Physical Activity ◽

Older Adults ◽

Physical Activity Level ◽

Daily Physical Activity ◽

Activity Level ◽

Activity Trackers ◽

Wearable Activity Trackers

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Perspectives of older adults with chronic disease on the use of wearable technology and video games for physical activity

Digital Health ◽

10.1177/20552076211019900 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 7 ◽

pp. 205520762110199

Author(s):

Joshua Simmich ◽

Allison Mandrusiak ◽

Trevor Russell ◽

Stuart Smith ◽

Nicole Hartley

Keyword(s):

Physical Activity ◽

Older Adults ◽

Video Games ◽

Chronic Diseases ◽

Clinical Care ◽

Chronic Obstructive ◽

Structured Interviews ◽

Obstructive Pulmonary Disease ◽

Activity Trackers ◽

Wearable Activity Trackers

Background There is increasing interest in technology to deliver physical rehabilitation and allow clinicians to monitor progress. Examples include wearable activity trackers and active video games (AVGs), where physical activity is required to play the game. However, few studies have explored what may influence the effectiveness of these as technology-based physical activity interventions in older adults with chronic diseases. Objective This study aimed to explore: 1) perceptions about wearable physical activity trackers; 2) perceptions about using technology to share physical activity information with clinicians; 3) barriers and motivators to playing games, including AVGs for rehabilitation. Methods Qualitative study based on semi-structured interviews with older adults ( n = 19) with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Results Wearable activity trackers were perceived as useful to quantify activity, facilitate goal-setting, visualize long-term improvements and provide reminders. Participants generally wished to share data with their clinicians to gain greater accountability, receive useful feedback and improve the quality of clinical care. Participants were motivated to play games (including AVGs) by seeking fun, social interaction and health benefits. Some felt that AVGs were of no benefit or were too difficult. Competition was both a motivator and a barrier. Conclusions The findings of the present study seek to inform the design of technology to encourage physical activity in older adults with chronic diseases.

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Wearable Activity Trackers and Older Adults: The Social Effect and Importance in Healthcare

Iproceedings ◽

10.2196/iproc.8580 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 3 (1) ◽

pp. e50

Author(s):

Jessica DeClercq ◽

Shelia R Cotten ◽

Wei Peng ◽

Anastasia Kononova ◽

Marie Bowen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Social Effect ◽

Activity Trackers ◽

The Social ◽

Wearable Activity Trackers

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What makes older adults use their wearable activity trackers longer?: A qualitative study on habit formation (Preprint)

JMIR mhealth and uhealth ◽

10.2196/22488 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Wei Peng ◽

Lin Li ◽

Anastasia Kononova ◽

Shelia Cotten ◽

Kendra Kamp ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Qualitative Study ◽

Habit Formation ◽

Activity Trackers ◽

Wearable Activity Trackers

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The Use of Wearable Activity Trackers Among Older Adults: Focus Group Study of Tracker Perceptions, Motivators, and Barriers in the Maintenance Stage of Behavior Change (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.9832 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Anastasia Kononova ◽

Lin Li ◽

Kendra Kamp ◽

Marie Bowen ◽

R.V. Rikard ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Physical Activity ◽

Social Support ◽

Older Adults ◽

Focus Groups ◽

Short Term ◽

Activity Tracker ◽

Activity Trackers ◽

Maintenance Stage ◽

Wearable Activity Trackers

BACKGROUND Wearable activity trackers offer the opportunity to increase physical activity through continuous monitoring. Viewing tracker use as a beneficial health behavior, we explored the factors that facilitate and hinder long-term activity tracker use, applying the transtheoretical model of behavior change with the focus on the maintenance stage and relapse. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to investigate older adults’ perceptions and uses of activity trackers at different points of use: from nonuse and short-term use to long-term use and abandoned use to determine the factors to maintain tracker use and prevent users from discontinuing tracker usage. METHODS Data for the research come from 10 focus groups. Of them, 4 focus groups included participants who had never used activity trackers (n=17). These focus groups included an activity tracker trial. The other 6 focus groups (without the activity tracker trial) were conducted with short-term (n=9), long-term (n=11), and former tracker users (n=11; 2 focus groups per user type). RESULTS The results revealed that older adults in different tracker use stages liked and wished for different tracker features, with long-term users (users in the maintenance stage) being the most diverse and sophisticated users of the technology. Long-term users had developed a habit of tracker use whereas other participants made an effort to employ various encouragement strategies to ensure behavior maintenance. Social support through collaboration was the primary motivator for long-term users to maintain activity tracker use. Short-term and former users focused on competition, and nonusers engaged in vicarious tracker use experiences. Former users, or those who relapsed by abandoning their trackers, indicated that activity tracker use was fueled by curiosity in quantifying daily physical activity rather than the desire to increase physical activity. Long-term users saw a greater range of pros in activity tracker use whereas others focused on the cons of this behavior. CONCLUSIONS The results suggest that activity trackers may be an effective technology to encourage physical activity among older adults, especially those who have never tried it. However, initial positive response to tracker use does not guarantee tracker use maintenance. Maintenance depends on recognizing the long-term benefits of tracker use, social support, and internal motivation. Nonadoption and relapse may occur because of technology’s limitations and gaining awareness of one’s physical activity without changing the physical activity level itself.

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