ArticleJournal for the measurement of physical behaviour2020
Review of Validity and Reliability of Garmin Activity Trackers.
Article in Journal for the measurement of physical behaviour, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 68 papers.
What it found
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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.
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Who cites it
68 citing papers in PubMed.
- Impact of wearable-assisted walking on sarcopenia and body composition in older adults.BMC geriatrics · 2025Trial
- HabitWalk: A micro-randomized trial to understand and promote habit formation in physical activity.Applied psychology. Health and well-being · 2025Trial
- Effects ofNutrients · 2024Trial
- Effects of Two Physical Activity Interventions on Sleep and Sedentary Time in Pregnant Women.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Trial
- Effects of a Long-Term Wearable Activity Tracker-Based Exercise Intervention on Cardiac Morphology and Function of Patients with Cystic Fibrosis.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Trial
- Observational
- Measuring long-term physical activity in patients with heart failure and its relation to health-related outcomes.ESC heart failure · 2026Observational
- Consumer Smartwatch Technology in Health and Performance Research: Validity, Limitations, and Real-World Applications.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Automated Physical Activity Support for Adults and Youth From Low-Income Communities: Single-Arm Pilot Study.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2026Article
- Can consumer wearables support outpatient health monitoring for patients with post-acute infection syndromes? A systematic umbrella review of accuracy, validity, and clinical utility data.PLOS digital health · 2026Article
- Patterns in exercise behaviour across pregnancy: a retrospective cohort study of physically active individuals from pre-conception to postpartum.European journal of applied physiology · 2026Observational
- Interindividual differences in digital phenotypes of major depressive disorder: A passive sensing study using smartphone and wearable sensor data.Behaviour research and therapy · 2026Article
- Determining a Likely Mechanism of Missingness in Repeated Measures Sleep Data From Wearable Fitness Trackers: Longitudinal Analysis.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2026Article
- Heart Rate Variability in Congenital Heart Disease and Controls Using Wearable Technology and a Health Application Programming Interface-A Cross-sectional Study.CJC pediatric and congenital heart disease · 2026Article
- Article
- Use of sensing technologies to assess sleep quality and physical activity levels in nursing home residents with dementia taking nightly psychotropic drugs for sleep disturbance: a cross-sectional study.Frontiers in aging · 2026Article
- Exploring training-sleep characteristics and bidirectional lagged relationships in Chinese recreational runners: insights from a year-long wearable monitoring study.Frontiers in physiology · 2026Article
- Assessing Stress Level Scores Against Wearables-Driven Physiological Measurements.Stress and health : journal of the International Society for the Investigation of Stress · 2025Article
- Implementation Framework to Increase Patient Adherence in Clinical Trials Utilizing Wearable Devices.Research square · 2025Article
- Sleep Stage Monitoring in Congenital Heart Disease (CHD) Using a Digital Health Application Programming Interface (API).Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Article
8 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
2 authors.
Funding
Abstract
purposeA systematic review to summarize the validity and reliability of steps, distance, energy expenditure, speed, elevation, heart rate, and sleep assessed by Garmin activity trackers.
methodsSearches included studies published through December 31, 2018. Correlation coefficients (CC) were assessed as low (<0.60), moderate (0.60-<0.75), good (0.75-<0.90), or excellent (>=0.90). Mean absolute percentage errors (MAPE) were assessed as acceptable at <5% in controlled conditions and <10% for free-living.
resultsOverall, 32 studies of adults documented validity. Four of these studies also documented reliability. The sample size ranged from 1 to 95 for validity and 4 to 31 for reliability testing. Step inter- and intra-reliability was good-to-excellent and speed intra-reliability was excellent. No other features were explored for reliability. Step validity, across 16 studies, generally indicated good-to-excellent CC and acceptable MAPE. Distance validity, tested in three studies, generally indicated poor CC and MAPE that exceeded acceptable limits, with both over and underestimation. Energy expenditure validity, across 12 studies, generally indicated wide variability in CC and MAPE that exceeded acceptable limits. Heart rate validity in five studies had low-to-excellent CC and all MAPE exceeded acceptable limits. Speed, elevation, and sleep validity were assessed in only one or two studies each; for sleep, the criterion relied on self-report rather than polysomnography.
conclusionThis systematic review of Garmin activity trackers among adults indicated higher validity of steps; few studies on speed, elevation, and sleep; and lower validity for distance, energy expenditure, and heart rate. Intra- and inter-device feature reliability needs further testing.
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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 OpenQuestion graph.