TITLE:
Comparison of Fitness Tracking Using Three Different Smartwatches during Free Activities in Daily Life
AUTHORS:
Eriko Terasawa, Yoshihiro Asano, Makiko Aoki, Hisayo Okayama
KEYWORDS:
Wearable Device, Fitness Tracking, Daily Life, Smartwatches
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Nursing,
Vol.13 No.10,
October
12,
2023
ABSTRACT: Background: Young women of reproductive age experience various
physiological changes, which they measure and track using various devices,
including fitness trackers and smartwatches. However, fitness tracking
assessment methods are ambiguous because they may differ from model to model.
Objective: This study aimed to compare the stress level, heart rate, sleep
time, number of steps, and distance traveled, which were calculated using
fitness tracking methods for daily-life free activity installed in various
smartwatches. Materials and Methodology: Healthy
women in their 20s to 30s were recruited for this study, which was conducted
from December 2021 to June 2022. The finalized participants wore three
different smartwatch models (Mi smartband 6, vivosmart®4, and Band 6) simultaneously on their person for 48 hours and performed
their daily activities and recorded them on an hour-based activity chart. Each smartwatch’s measured data (e.g., age,
height, weight, and oral medications) were extracted into five datasets:
heart rate, stress level, number of steps,
distance, and sleep time. Data analyses were conducted using Spearman’s rank
correlation coefficient ρ (for
comparing heart rates) and Bland-Altman plots (for assessing heart rate
agreement). The smartwatches’ fitness trackers were compared using the mean
absolute percentage error. Results: The correlation coefficient showed that vivosmart®4 and Band 6 had a higher heart rate agreement (ρ = 0.684). The Bland-Altman plots showed high agreement between Band 6, Mi smartband 6, and vivosmart®4. The heart rate measurement method used under free
movement was found to be consistent. The examined smartwatches were able to
measure heart rate at the same level even under daily-life free movements.
Conclusion: Several different smartwatches’
calculated measured values for heart rate had a high agreement. The
smartwatches provided accurate heart rate measurements under daily-life free
movement conditions. Furthermore, the calculation methods for stress level were
found to differ in the fitness tracking of all the smartwatches.