Associations of Wearable Activity Tracker Use With Physical Activity and Health Outcomes in Patients With Cancer: Findings from a Population-Based Survey Study

Abstract

Background: Physical inactivity is a global issue for cancer survivors. Wearable activity trackers are promising to address physical inactivity by providing real-time feedback on physical activity and offering opportunities for self-monitoring and goal setting. Meta-analysis has reported the effects of interventions that incorporate wearable activity trackers on improved physical inactivity and related health outcomes (eg, BMI, anxiety and depression, and self-rated health status). However, wearable activity trackers were often used as an adjunct to physical activity interventions, and the effectiveness of wearable activity trackers alone is unknown. Objective: This study aims to determine the association of wearable activity trackers with physical activity and health outcomes in patients with cancer. Methods: Data from 957 cancer survivors from the Health Information National Trends Survey-Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (HINTS-SEER) were analyzed. The outcome variables examined were time spent in moderate to vigorous physical activity, weekly frequency of strength training, BMI, anxiety and depression levels, and self-assessed health status. The primary independent variable was whether cancer survivors had used wearable activity trackers within the past 12 months. Design-based linear regression for continuous outcome variables and ordinal logistic regression for ordinal outcome variables were conducted to determine the associations after controlling for sociodemographic, cancer-related, and health-related factors. All data analyses accounted for the complex survey design and sample weights. Results: Only 29% of cancer survivors reported wearable activity tracker use. Bivariate analyses showed that younger age (P