Background: Consumer-based wearables are becoming more popular and provide opportunities to track individual's clinical parameters remotely. However, literature about their criterion and known-groups validity is scarce.
Objective: This study aimed to assess the validity of the Fitbit Charge 4, a wrist-worn consumer-based wearable, to measure clinical parameters (ie, daily step count, resting heart rate [RHR], heart rate variability [HRV], respiratory rate [RR], and oxygen saturation) in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and healthy controls in free-living conditions in Belgium by comparing it with medical-grade devices.
Methods: Participants wore the Fitbit Charge 4 along with three medical-grade devices: (1) Dynaport MoveMonitor for 7 days, retrieving daily step count; (2) Polar H10 for 5 days, retrieving RHR, HRV, and RR; and (3) Nonin WristOX2 3150 for 4 nights, retrieving oxygen saturation. Criterion validity was assessed by investigating the agreement between day-by-day measures of the Fitbit Charge 4 and the corresponding reference devices. Known-groups validity was assessed by comparing patients with COPD and healthy controls.
Results: Data of 30 patients with COPD and 25 age- and gender-matched healthy controls resulted in good agreement between the Fitbit Charge 4 and the corresponding reference device for measuring daily step count (intraclass correlation coefficient [ICC2,1]=0.79 and ICC2,1=0.85, respectively), RHR (ICC2,1=0.80 and ICC2,1=0.79, respectively), and RR (ICC2,1=0.84 and ICC2,1=0.77, respectively). The agreement for HRV was moderate (healthy controls: ICC2,1=0.69) to strong (COPD: ICC2,1=0.87). The agreement in measuring oxygen saturation in patients with COPD was poor (ICC2,1=0.32). The Fitbit device overestimated the daily step count and underestimated HRV in both groups. While RHR and RR were overestimated in healthy controls, no difference was observed in patients with COPD. Oxygen saturation was overestimated in patients with COPD. The Fitbit Charge 4 detected significant differences in daily step count, RHR, and RR between patients with COPD and healthy controls, similar to those identified by the reference devices, supporting known-groups validity.
Conclusions: Although the Fitbit Charge 4 shows mainly moderate to good agreement, measures of clinical parameters deviated from the reference devices, indicating that monitoring patients remotely and interpreting parameters requires caution. Differences in clinical parameters between patients with COPD and healthy controls that were measured by the reference devices were all detected by the Fitbit Charge 4.
Background: The use of wearable sensors is being explored as a challenging way to accurately identify smoking behaviors by measuring physiological and environmental factors in real-life settings. Although they hold potential benefits for aiding smoking cessation, no single wearable device currently achieves high accuracy in detecting smoking events. Furthermore, it is crucial to emphasize that this area of study is dynamic and requires ongoing updates.
Objective: This scoping review aims to map the scientific literature for identifying the main sensors developed or used for tobacco smoke detection, with a specific focus on wearable sensors, as well as describe their key features and categorize them by type.
Methods: According to the PRISMA-ScR (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews) protocol, an electronic search was conducted on the PubMed, MEDLINE, and Web of Science databases, using the following keywords: ("biosensors" OR "biosensor" OR "sensors" OR "sensor" OR "wearable") AND ("smoking" OR "smoke").
Results: Among a total of 37 studies included in this scoping review published between 2012 and March 2024, 16 described sensors based on wearable bands, 15 described multisensory systems, and 6 described other strategies to detect tobacco smoke exposure. Included studies provided details about the design or application of wearable sensors based on an elastic band to detect different aspects of tobacco smoke exposure (eg, arm, wrist, and finger movements, and lighting events). Some studies proposed a system composed of different sensor modalities (eg, Personal Automatic Cigarette Tracker [PACT], PACT 2.0, and AutoSense).
Conclusions: Our scoping review has revealed both the obstacles and opportunities linked to wearable devices, offering valuable insights for future research initiatives. Tackling the recognized challenges and delving into potential avenues for enhancement could elevate wearable devices into even more effective tools for aiding smoking cessation. In this context, continuous research is essential to fine-tune and optimize these devices, guaranteeing their practicality and reliability in real-world applications.
Background: Despite the growing availability of smoking cessation apps, low engagement and cessation rates have remained a significant challenge. To address this issue, we used a user-centered design to iteratively develop a mobile app (MO) to provide comprehensive, tailored, and evidence-based content to support smokers in their quitting journey.
Objective: This study examined the acceptability, use, and preliminary efficacy of the MO app for smoking cessation. Specifically, we sought to understand smokers' preferred features, engagement, and satisfaction with MO; identify concerns in using the app and ways to improve the app; and evaluate its smoking cessation outcomes.
Methods: Through 3 cohorts, we recruited 10, 12, and 85 adult smokers who attempted to quit smoking to pilot-test the MO app between December 2019 and July 2022. Participants were instructed to complete a baseline survey, interact with the app for 6 weeks, and fill in a postsurvey at week 6. Participants in cohort 3 completed an additional postsurvey at week 12. Participants' app use was tracked and analyzed. The primary outcome measures were participants' 7-day point prevalence abstinence at 6 and 12 weeks.
Results: Participants reported high levels of satisfaction with the MO app across all 3 cohorts, rating it between 4.40 and 4.76 on a scale of 5 for acceptability. Users engaged with app activities for an average of 89 to 159 times over 35 days. The most liked features of the app included "quit plan," "tracking," "reminders and notifications," "MOtalks," and "motivational quotes." The 7-day point prevalence abstinence rate of the modified intention to treat population in cohort 3 was 58% at 6 weeks and 52% at 12 weeks. Those who interacted more frequently with app features and engaged with more diverse activities were more likely to maintain abstinence at weeks 6 and 12. For each additional time logged into the app, the odds of staying abstinent at week 12 increased by 5% (odds ratio [OR] 1.05, 95% CI 1.01-1.08). Participants who earned >5000 points during app use also had higher odds of quitting at both 6 weeks (OR 3.12, 95% CI 1.25-7.75) and 12 weeks (OR 4.65, 95% CI 1.83-11.76), compared with those who earned <5000 points.
Conclusions: Our study demonstrated that MO is a feasible mobile phone app with high acceptability and usability and can effectively deliver smoking cessation support to individuals who want to quit. Implications for developing and evaluating mobile phone apps for smoking cessation are discussed.
Background: Obesity is a rapidly increasing health problem in China, causing massive economic and health losses annually. Many techniques have emerged to help people with obesity better adhere to intervention programs and achieve their weight loss goals, including food replacement and internet-delivered weight loss consultations. Most studies on weight loss interventions mainly focused on the change in body weight or BMI; however, body fat, especially visceral fat mass, is considered the main pathogenic factor in obesity. In China, more reliable evidence is required on this topic. Moreover, it is unclear whether an integrated weight loss program combining food replacement products, mobile app-based platforms, and daily body composition monitoring using a wireless scale is useful and practical in China.
Objective: In this 2-arm, parallel-designed, randomized study, we explored the effectiveness and safety of the Metawell (Weijian Technologies Inc) weight loss program in China, which combines prepackaged biscuits, a wireless scale, and a mobile app.
Methods: Participants in the intervention group were guided to use food replacement products and a scale for weight loss and monitoring, whereas participants in the control group received printed material with a sample diet and face-to-face education on weight loss at enrollment. The intervention lasted for 3 months, and follow-up visits were conducted at months 3 and 6 after enrollment. Dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry and quantitative computed tomography were used to assess body fat. A multilevel model for repeated measurements was used to compare differences between the 2 groups.
Results: In total, 220 patients were randomly assigned to intervention (n=110) and control (n=110) groups. Participants in the intervention group had significantly greater decreases in BMI, total body fat, visceral adipose area, and subcutaneous adipose area (all P<.001) than those in the control group. However, the rate of change in lean mass was not significantly different between the 2 groups (P=.62). Further, 35 participants in the intervention group reported adverse events. Constipation was the most frequently reported adverse event (11/110), followed by dizziness (6/110), hypoglycemia (4/110), fatigue (3/110), and gastritis (3/35).
Conclusions: The Metawell program was effective for weight loss. After the intervention, participants in the intervention group lost more body weight and body fat while retaining muscle mass than those in the control group.