Activity trackers provide biomedical researchers with easy-to-obtain results with accuracy similar to research-grade monitors as a low-cost alternative. A study, published in the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology Journal, evaluated the most popular wearables to monitor physical activity.

Researchers evaluated information from Ovid Medline, PubMed Medline, clinicaltrials.gov and NIH RePorter that mentioned the Fitbit, Jawbone, Apple Watch, Garmin, Polar, Microsoftband, Misfit, Nike, Withings and Xiaomi. Results were quantified by condition/topic, intervention, enrollment status, study type and design, participant age, funding mechanism and primary outcome.

Overall, the Fitbit was the most used physician activity monitor with 89 percent of published work. Nearly 83 percent of clinical trials and 95 percent of NIH-funded research reported the use of the device. The Fitbit was primary used to measure physician activity and biomarkers of health including blood pressure and blood glucose levels.

“The current state and potential growth of the consumer monitor technology is transforming biomedical research, and is enabling us to ask new and more granular questions about physical activity in health and disease,” concluded Stephen P. Wright, PhD, a medical researcher at Georgetown University, first author on the study, and colleagues.