School of Educational Sciences and Psychology, University of Eastern Finland, Joensuu, Finland.
Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland.
J Med Internet Res. 2020 Sep 1;22(9):e18509. doi: 10.2196/18509.
Physical activity trackers (PATs) such as apps and wearable devices (eg, sports watches, heart rate monitors) are increasingly being used by young adolescents. Despite the potential of PATs to help monitor and improve moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) behaviors, there is a lack of research that confirms an association between PAT ownership or use and physical activity behaviors at the population level.
The purpose of this study was to examine the ownership and use of PATs in youth and their associations with physical activity behaviors, including daily MVPA, sports club membership, and active travel, in 2 nationally representative samples of young adolescent males and females in Finland and Ireland.
Comparable data were gathered in the 2018 Finnish School-aged Physical Activity (F-SPA 2018, n=3311) and the 2018 Irish Children's Sport Participation and Physical Activity (CSPPA 2018, n=4797) studies. A cluster analysis was performed to obtain the patterns of PAT ownership and usage by adolescents (age, 11-15 years). Four similar clusters were identified across Finnish and Irish adolescents: (1) no PATs, (2) PAT owners, (3) app users, and (4) wearable device users. Adjusted binary logistic regression analyses were used to evaluate how PAT clusters were associated with physical activity behaviors, including daily MVPA, membership of sports clubs, and active travel, after stratification by gender.
The proportion of app ownership among Finnish adolescents (2038/3311, 61.6%) was almost double that of their Irish counterparts (1738/4797, 36.2%). Despite these differences, the clustering patterns of PATs were similar between the 2 countries. App users were more likely to take part in daily MVPA (males, odds ratio [OR] 1.27, 95% CI 1.04-1.55; females, OR 1.49, 95% CI 1.20-1.85) and be members of sports clubs (males, OR 1.37, 95% CI 1.15-1.62; females, OR 1.25, 95% CI 1.07-1.50) compared to the no PATs cluster, after adjusting for country, age, family affluence, and disabilities. These associations, after the same adjustments, were even stronger for wearable device users to participate in daily MVPA (males, OR 1.83, 95% CI 1.49-2.23; females, OR 2.25, 95% CI 1.80-2.82) and be members of sports clubs (males, OR 1.88, 95% CI 1.55-2.88; females, OR 2.07, 95% CI 1.71-2.52). Significant associations were observed between male users of wearable devices and taking part in active travel behavior (OR 1.39, 95% CI 1.04-1.86).
Although Finnish adolescents report more ownership of PATs than Irish adolescents, the patterns of use and ownership remain similar among the cohorts. The findings of our study show that physical activity behaviors were positively associated with wearable device users and app users. These findings were similar between males and females. Given the cross-sectional nature of this data, the relationship between using apps or wearable devices and enhancing physical activity behaviors requires further investigation.
运动追踪器（PAT），如应用程序和可穿戴设备（如运动手表、心率监测器），越来越多地被青少年使用。尽管 PAT 有可能帮助监测和改善中到高强度体力活动（MVPA）行为，但缺乏研究证实 PAT 的拥有或使用与人口水平的体力活动行为之间存在关联。
本研究旨在检查芬兰和爱尔兰的两个具有代表性的青少年男性和女性样本中，青少年对 PAT 的拥有和使用情况，以及与日常 MVPA、体育俱乐部会员资格和积极出行等体力活动行为的关联。
在 2018 年芬兰青少年体育活动研究（F-SPA 2018，n=3311）和 2018 年爱尔兰儿童运动参与和体育活动研究（CSPPA 2018，n=4797）中收集了可比数据。通过聚类分析获得青少年对 PAT 的拥有和使用模式（年龄，11-15 岁）。在芬兰和爱尔兰青少年中确定了四个相似的聚类：（1）没有 PATs，（2）PAT 所有者，（3）应用程序用户，和（4）可穿戴设备用户。在按性别分层后，使用调整后的二项逻辑回归分析评估了 PAT 聚类与体力活动行为（包括日常 MVPA、体育俱乐部会员资格和积极出行）之间的关联。
芬兰青少年的应用程序拥有率（2038/3311，61.6%）几乎是爱尔兰青少年的两倍（1738/4797，36.2%）。尽管存在这些差异，但两国的 PAT 聚类模式相似。与没有 PATs 聚类相比，应用程序用户更有可能参与日常 MVPA（男性，OR 1.27，95%CI 1.04-1.55；女性，OR 1.49，95%CI 1.20-1.85）和成为体育俱乐部的成员（男性，OR 1.37，95%CI 1.15-1.62；女性，OR 1.25，95%CI 1.07-1.50），在调整了国家、年龄、家庭富裕程度和残疾情况后。在同样的调整后，可穿戴设备用户的这些关联甚至更强，他们更有可能参与日常 MVPA（男性，OR 1.83，95%CI 1.49-2.23；女性，OR 2.25，95%CI 1.80-2.82）和成为体育俱乐部的成员（男性，OR 1.88，95%CI 1.55-2.88；女性，OR 2.07，95%CI 1.71-2.52）。在男性可穿戴设备用户中，积极出行行为与参与行为之间存在显著关联（OR 1.39，95%CI 1.04-1.86）。
尽管芬兰青少年报告拥有更多的 PAT，但在队列中，使用和拥有模式仍然相似。我们的研究结果表明，体力活动行为与可穿戴设备用户和应用程序用户呈正相关。这些发现在男性和女性之间是相似的。鉴于这是一项横断面研究，应用程序或可穿戴设备的使用与增强体力活动行为之间的关系需要进一步调查。
