Wearable-device-measured physical activity and future health risk
Publication: Nature Medicine
Strain, T., Wijndaele, K., Dempsey, P., Sharp, S., Pearce, M., Jeon, J., Lindsay, T., Wareham, N. and Brage, S.
17 August 2020
Use of wearable devices that monitor physical activity is projected to increase more than fivefold per half-decade. In this study the researchers investigated how device-based physical activity energy expenditure (PAEE) and different intensity profiles were associated with all-cause mortality.
96,476 UK Biobank participants (mean age 62 years, 56% female) were studied and followed up for 3.1 years. The research showed that higher PAEE was associated with a lower hazard of all-cause mortality for a constant fraction of moderate-to-vigorous-intensity physical activity (MVPA).
The results show that higher volumes of PAEE are associated with reduced mortality rates, and achieving the same volume through higher-intensity activity is associated with greater reductions than through lower-intensity activity. The linkage of device-measured activity to energy expenditure creates a framework for using wearables for personalized prevention.