Department of Engineering, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, Corpus Christi, TX 78412, USA.
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 92182, USA.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020 May 15;17(10):3461. doi: 10.3390/ijerph17103461.
Wearable activity trackers can motivate older adults to engage in the recommended daily amount of physical activity (PA). However, individuals may not maintain their use of the trackers over a longer period. To investigate the attitudes of activity tracker adoption and their effects on actual PA performance, we conducted a three-month study. We gave activity trackers to 16 older adults and assessed attitudes on activity tracker adoption through a survey during the study period. We extracted participants' PA measures, step counts, and moderate and vigorous physical activity (MVPA) times. We observed significant differences in adoption attitudes during the three different periods ((2, 48) = 6.27, < 0.05), and PA measures followed similar decreasing patterns ((83, 1357) = 12.56, 13.94, < 0.00001). However, the Pearson correlation analysis ( = 0.268, = 0.284) and a Bland-Altman plot indicated a bias between two PA measures. Positive attitudes at the initial stage did not persist through the study period, and both step counts and length of MVPA time showed waning patterns in the study period. The longitudinal results from both measures demonstrated the patterns of old adults' long-term use and adoption. Considering the accuracy of the activity tracker and older adults' athletic ability, MVPA times are more likely to be a reliable measure of older adults' long-term use and successful adoption of activity trackers than step counts. The results support the development of better activity tracker design guidelines that would facilitate long-term adoption among older adults.
可穿戴活动追踪器可以激励老年人进行推荐的每日身体活动（PA）量。然而，个体可能无法在更长时间内保持对追踪器的使用。为了研究活动追踪器采用的态度及其对实际 PA 表现的影响，我们进行了为期三个月的研究。我们给 16 名老年人配备了活动追踪器，并在研究期间通过调查评估了他们对活动追踪器采用的态度。我们提取了参与者的 PA 测量指标、步数和中等强度及剧烈体力活动（MVPA）时间。我们观察到在三个不同时期（（2, 48）= 6.27, < 0.05），参与者对活动追踪器采用的态度有显著差异，PA 测量指标也呈现出类似的下降模式（（83, 1357）= 12.56, 13.94, < 0.00001）。然而，皮尔逊相关分析（ = 0.268, = 0.284）和 Bland-Altman 图表明两种 PA 测量指标之间存在偏差。在研究期间，初始阶段的积极态度并没有持续下去，步数和 MVPA 时间的长度都呈现出逐渐减少的趋势。这两种指标的纵向结果都表明了老年人长期使用和采用的模式。考虑到活动追踪器的准确性和老年人的运动能力，MVPA 时间比步数更有可能成为衡量老年人长期使用和成功采用活动追踪器的可靠指标。研究结果支持制定更好的活动追踪器设计指南，以促进老年人的长期采用。
