SynthesisThe international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity2020
Can consumer wearable activity tracker-based interventions improve physical activity and cardiometabolic health in patients with chronic diseases? A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials.
Synthesis in The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 86 papers, 17 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
86 citing papers in PubMed, 17 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 185 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effectiveness of Physical Rehabilitation Interventions on Walking Capacity and Wearable Sensor-Derived Performance After Stroke: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Pooled it
- Effects of Multicomponent Digital Health Interventions on Multidimensional Physical Activity in Older Adults: Systematic Review, Meta-Analysis, and Meta-Regression of Randomized Controlled Trials.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Pooled it
- Effects of physical activity-promoting wearable devices on blood pressure in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Hypertension research : official journal of the Japanese Society of Hypertension · 2025Pooled it
- Effectiveness of wearable technology-based physical activity interventions for adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus: A systematic review and meta-regression.Journal of diabetes · 2024Pooled it
- Wearable Devices to Improve Physical Activity and Reduce Sedentary Behaviour: An Umbrella Review.Sports medicine - open · 2024Pooled it
- RE-AIM (Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, and Maintenance) Evaluation of the Use of Activity Trackers in the Clinical Care of Adults Diagnosed With a Chronic Disease: Integrative Systematic Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2023Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Interventions Using Wearable Activity Trackers to Improve Patient Physical Activity and Other Outcomes in Adults Who Are Hospitalized: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.JAMA network open · 2023Pooled it
- Digital Biomarker-Based Interventions: Systematic Review of Systematic Reviews.Journal of medical Internet research · 2022Pooled it
- Interventions Including Smart Technology Compared With Face-to-face Physical Activity Interventions in Older Adults: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.Journal of medical Internet research · 2022Pooled it
- Association Between Patient Factors and the Effectiveness of Wearable Trackers at Increasing the Number of Steps per Day Among Adults With Cardiometabolic Conditions: Meta-analysis of Individual Patient Data From Randomized Controlled Trials.Journal of medical Internet research · 2022Pooled it
- Effects of Consumer-Wearable Activity Tracker-Based Programs on Objectively Measured Daily Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior Among School-Aged Children: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.Sports medicine - open · 2022Pooled it
- Digital Interventions on Healthy Lifestyle Management: Systematic Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2021Pooled it
- Exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation for coronary heart disease.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2021Pooled it
- Long-term Effectiveness of mHealth Physical Activity Interventions: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.Journal of medical Internet research · 2021Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Effectiveness of Fitbit-Based Interventions in Improving 24-hour Movement Behaviors: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Inquiry : a journal of medical care organization, provision and financingPooled it
- Maintenance of Improvements in Walking Activity in Individuals with Chronic Stroke: Follow-Up From the PROWALKS Randomized Controlled Trial.Neurorehabilitation and neural repair · 2025Trial
- Use of activity trackers to improve blood pressure in young people at risk for cardiovascular disease: a pilot randomized controlled trial.Pediatric nephrology (Berlin, Germany) · 2024Trial
- Predictors associated with an increase in daily steps among people with prediabetes or type 2 diabetes participating in a two-year pedometer intervention.BMC public health · 2024Trial
26 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundTo date, it is unclear if consumer wearable activity trackers (CWATs), with or without behaviour multi-component strategies, effectively improve adherence to physical activity and health outcomes under free living conditions in populations with chronic diseases. Therefore, we systematically evaluated the efficacy of CWAT-based interventions to promote physical activity levels and cardiometabolic health in populations with chronic diseases.
methodsRandomised controlled trials were collected from five bibliographic databases (PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials and CINAHL). Studies were eligible for inclusion if they evaluated a CWAT-based counselling intervention versus control intervention among patients with chronic respiratory diseases, type 2 diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular diseases, overweight/obesity, cognitive disorders, or sedentary older adults. Data were pooled using a random-effects model.
resultsAfter deduplication 8147 were identified of which 35 studies met inclusion criteria (chronic respiratory diseases: 7, type 2 diabetes mellitus: 12, cardiovascular diseases: 6, overweight/obesity: 3, cognitive disorders: 1, sedentary older adults: 6). Compared to control groups, CWAT-based interventions significantly increased physical activity by 2123 steps per day (95% confidence interval [CI], [1605-2641]; p < 0.001). In addition, CWAT-based interventions in these populations significantly decreased systolic blood pressure (- 3.79 mm Hg; 95% CI: [- 4.53, - 3.04] mm Hg; p < 0.001), waist circumference (- 0.99 cm; 95% CI: [- 1.48, - 0.50] cm; p < 0.001) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol concentration (- 5.70 mg/dl; 95% CI: [- 9.24, - 2.15] mg/dl; p = 0.002).
conclusionCWAT-based interventions increase physical activity and have beneficial effects on important health-related outcomes such as systolic blood pressure, waist circumference and LDL cholesterol concentration in patients with chronic diseases.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.