Dataset Information

Activity Monitors as Support for Older Persons' Physical Activity in Daily Life: Qualitative Study of the Users' Experiences.

ABSTRACT: Falls are a major threat to the health and independence of seniors. Regular physical activity (PA) can prevent 40% of all fall injuries. The challenge is to motivate and support seniors to be physically active. Persuasive systems can constitute valuable support for persons aiming at establishing and maintaining healthy habits. However, these systems need to support effective behavior change techniques (BCTs) for increasing older adults' PA and meet the senior users' requirements and preferences. Therefore, involving users as codesigners of new systems can be fruitful. Prestudies of the user's experience with similar solutions can facilitate future user-centered design of novel persuasive systems.The aim of this study was to investigate how seniors experience using activity monitors (AMs) as support for PA in daily life. The addressed research questions are as follows: (1) What are the overall experiences of senior persons, of different age and balance function, in using wearable AMs in daily life?; (2) Which aspects did the users perceive relevant to make the measurements as meaningful and useful in the long-term perspective?; and (3) What needs and requirements did the users perceive as more relevant for the activity monitors to be useful in a long-term perspective?This qualitative interview study included 8 community-dwelling older adults (median age: 83 years). The participants' experiences in using two commercial AMs together with tablet-based apps for 9 days were investigated. Activity diaries during the usage and interviews after the usage were exploited to gather user experience. Comments in diaries were summarized, and interviews were analyzed by inductive content analysis.The users (n=8) perceived that, by using the AMs, their awareness of own PA had increased. However, the AMs' impact on the users' motivation for PA and activity behavior varied between participants. The diaries showed that self-estimated physical effort varied between participants and varied for each individual over time. Additionally, participants reported different types of accomplished activities; talking walks was most frequently reported. To be meaningful, measurements need to provide the user with a reliable receipt of whether his or her current activity behavior is sufficient for reaching an activity goal. Moreover, praise when reaching a goal was described as motivating feedback. To be useful, the devices must be easy to handle. In this study, the users perceived wearables as easy to handle, whereas tablets were perceived difficult to maneuver. Users reported in the diaries that the devices had been functional 78% (58/74) of the total test days.Activity monitors can be valuable for supporting seniors' PA. However, the potential of the solutions for a broader group of seniors can significantly be increased. Areas of improvement include reliability, usability, and content supporting effective BCTs with respect to increasing older adults' PA.

SUBMITTER: Ehn M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5814603 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Activity Monitors as Support for Older Persons' Physical Activity in Daily Life: Qualitative Study of the Users' Experiences.

Ehn Maria M Eriksson Lennie Carlén LC Åkerberg Nina N Johansson Ann-Christin AC

JMIR mHealth and uHealth 20180201 2

<h4>Background</h4>Falls are a major threat to the health and independence of seniors. Regular physical activity (PA) can prevent 40% of all fall injuries. The challenge is to motivate and support seniors to be physically active. Persuasive systems can constitute valuable support for persons aiming at establishing and maintaining healthy habits. However, these systems need to support effective behavior change techniques (BCTs) for increasing older adults' PA and meet the senior users' requiremen ...[more]

PMID: 29391342

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Project description:Background:The body of evidence related to the effect of physical activity monitor-based interventions has grown over the recent years. However, the effect of physical activity monitor-based interventions in older adults remains unclear and should be systematically reviewed. Objective:The objective of this systematic review was to estimate the effect of physical activity monitor-based interventions on physical activity behavior in participants aged 65 and above. Subsequently we explored the effect on body mass index, physical capacity, and health-related quality of life and finally the impact of patient- and intervention characteristics. Methods:Searches in MEDLINE, EMBASE, SPORTDiscus, CINAHL, and CENTRAL were performed on April 26, 2018. No publication date filters were applied. References of eligible studies were scrutinized and relevant journals were hand-searched. Randomized controlled trials and randomized cross-over trials investigating the effect of a physical activity monitor-based intervention on physical activity were included. Studies were included if the mean age of the participants was above 65?years, and participants could walk independently with or without walking aids. The Cochrane handbook was used as a template for extracting data and the RoB 2.0 tool was used to assess risk of bias. Random-effects meta-analysis using Hedges g, were used to pool the study results. The main outcome of this study was physical activity. Results:Twenty-one studies with 2783 participants were included. The median participant age in the studies was 70.5?years, the median percentage of male participants was 42%, and the median baseline daily step count was 5268. Physical activity monitor-based interventions had a moderate effect (SMD?=?0.54, 95% CI: 0.34 to 0.73) compared to control interventions, corresponding to an average increase of 1297 steps per day in the intervention groups. No impact of patient and intervention characteristics on the effect estimates were found. Short conclusion:Low quality of evidence was found for a moderate effect of physical activity monitor-based interventions on physical activity compared with control interventions. More studies with higher research methodology standards are required. PROSPERO registration:CRD42018083648.

Project description:Wearable physical activity monitors are growing in popularity and provide the opportunity for large numbers of the public to self-monitor physical activity behaviours. The latest generation of these devices feature multiple sensors, ostensibly similar or even superior to advanced research instruments. However, little is known about the accuracy of their energy expenditure estimates. Here, we assessed their performance against criterion measurements in both controlled laboratory conditions (simulated activities of daily living and structured exercise) and over a 24 hour period in free-living conditions. Thirty men (n = 15) and women (n = 15) wore three multi-sensor consumer monitors (Microsoft Band, Apple Watch and Fitbit Charge HR), an accelerometry-only device as a comparison (Jawbone UP24) and validated research-grade multi-sensor devices (BodyMedia Core and individually calibrated Actiheart™). During discrete laboratory activities when compared against indirect calorimetry, the Apple Watch performed similarly to criterion measures. The Fitbit Charge HR was less consistent at measurement of discrete activities, but produced similar free-living estimates to the Apple Watch. Both these devices underestimated free-living energy expenditure (-394 kcal/d and -405 kcal/d, respectively; P<0.01). The multi-sensor Microsoft Band and accelerometry-only Jawbone UP24 devices underestimated most laboratory activities and substantially underestimated free-living expenditure (-1128 kcal/d and -998 kcal/d, respectively; P<0.01). None of the consumer devices were deemed equivalent to the reference method for daily energy expenditure. For all devices, there was a tendency for negative bias with greater daily energy expenditure. No consumer monitors performed as well as the research-grade devices although in some (but not all) cases, estimates were close to criterion measurements. Thus, whilst industry-led innovation has improved the accuracy of consumer monitors, these devices are not yet equivalent to the best research-grade devices or indeed equivalent to each other. We propose independent quality standards and/or accuracy ratings for consumer devices are required.

Project description:BackgroundCurrent evidence indicates physical activity wearables could support persons with knee osteoarthritis (OA) to be more physically active. However, recent evidence also identifies some persons with arthritis experience guilt or worry while using a wearable if they are not as active as they feel they should be. Questions remain around how persons with knee OA experience benefits or downsides using a wearable in their everyday lives. Better understanding is needed if wearables are to be incorporated in arthritis self-management in ethically aware ways.ObjectiveUsing an ethics lens, we aimed to describe a range of experiences from persons with knee OA who used a wearable during a physical activity counseling intervention study.MethodsThis is a secondary analysis of qualitative interviews nested within a randomized controlled trial. Guided by phenomenography, we explored the experiences of persons with knee OA following participation in a physical activity counseling intervention that involved using a Fitbit Flex and biweekly phone calls with a study physiotherapist (PT) in an 8-week period. Benefits or downsides experienced in participants' relationships with themselves or the study PT when using the wearable were identified using a relational ethics lens.ResultsInterviews with 21 participants (12 females and 9 males) aged 40 to 82 years were analyzed. Education levels ranged from high school graduates (4/21, 19%) to bachelor's degrees or above (11/21, 52%). We identified 3 categories of description: (1) participants experienced their wearable as a motivating or nagging influence to be more active, depending on how freely they were able to make autonomous choices about physical activity in their everyday lives; (2) some participants felt a sense of accomplishment from seeing progress in their wearable data, which fueled their motivation; (3) for some participants, sharing wearable data helped to build mutual trust in their relationship with the study PT. However, they also expressed there was potential for sharing wearable data to undermine this trust, particularly if this data was inaccurate.ConclusionsFindings provide an early glimpse into positive and negative emotional impacts of using a wearable that can be experienced by participants with knee OA when participating in a randomized controlled trial to support physical activity. To our knowledge, this is the first qualitative study that uses a relational ethics lens to explore how persons with arthritis experienced changes in their relationship with a health professional when using a wearable during research participation.

Dataset Information

Activity Monitors as Support for Older Persons' Physical Activity in Daily Life: Qualitative Study of the Users' Experiences.

Publications

Activity Monitors as Support for Older Persons' Physical Activity in Daily Life: Qualitative Study of the Users' Experiences.

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