Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32706685›Full record

SynthesisJMIR mHealth and uHealth2020

Effectiveness of Wearable Trackers on Physical Activity in Healthy Adults: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.

Matilda Swee Sun Tang, Katherine Moore, Andrew McGavigan, Robyn A Clark, Anand N Ganesan

Registry-linked trialOpen access · goldAbstract readMeta-AnalysisSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in JMIR mHealth and uHealth, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT07736729 (Effect of Continuous Wearable Biometric Monitoring on Weight Loss and Metabolic Outcomes in Adults Undergoing Obesity Treatment), which is not on this map. Cited by 58 papers, 14 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
58citing papers in PubMed, 14 pooled it
7.2field-weighted citation impact, top 2% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

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.

NCT07736729 nanot yet recruitingnot on this mapstarted 2026, after this paper: background citation

Effect of Continuous Wearable Biometric Monitoring on Weight Loss and Metabolic Outcomes in Adults Undergoing Obesity Treatment: A Sensor-Mediated Adaptive Randomized Controlled Trial in Bariatric and Metabolic Intervention (SMART-BMI)

TypeinterventionalSponsorJeff ReevesRan2026 to 2031Enrolled260ConditionsObesityArmsBiometric-informed care, Control Arm: Standard Care
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

58 citing papers in PubMed, 14 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 143 citations in OpenAlex.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Matilda Swee Sun TangCollege of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia.ORCID 0000-0002-2693-2776
Katherine MooreCollege of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia.ORCID 0000-0002-8378-5135
Andrew McGaviganCollege of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia.ORCID 0000-0002-4746-3999
Robyn A ClarkCollege of Nursing and Health Sciences, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia.ORCID 0000-0002-5063-2618
Anand N GanesanCollege of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia.ORCID 0000-0002-2734-3025
Flinders University · AU

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundWearable trackers are an increasingly popular tool among healthy adults and are used to facilitate self-monitoring of physical activity.

objectiveWe aimed to systematically review the effectiveness of wearable trackers for improving physical activity and weight reduction among healthy adults.

methodsThis review used the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) methodology and reporting criteria. English-language randomized controlled trials with more than 20 participants from MEDLINE, CINAHL, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, PubMed, and Scopus (2000-2017) were identified. Studies were eligible for inclusion if they reported an intervention group using wearable trackers, reporting steps per day, total moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, activity, physical activity, energy expenditure, and weight reduction.

resultsTwelve eligible studies with a total of 1693 participants met the inclusion criteria. The weighted average age was 40.7 years (95% CI 31.1-50.3), with 64.4% women. The mean intervention duration was 21.4 weeks (95% CI 6.1-36.7). The usage of wearable trackers was associated with increased physical activity (standardized mean difference 0.449, 95% CI 0.10-0.80; P=.01). In the subgroup analyses, however, wearable trackers demonstrated no clear benefit for physical activity or weight reduction.

conclusionsThese data suggest that the use of wearable trackers in healthy adults may be associated with modest short-term increases in physical activity. Further data are required to determine if a sustained benefit is associated with wearable tracker usage.

Indexed as

ExerciseFitness TrackersHealth StatusAdultHumansRandomized Controlled Trials as TopicWeight Losshealthy adultsphysical activityrandomized controlled trialswearable activity tracker

Identifiers

PMID32706685
PMCPMC7407266
OpenAlexW3025555717

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

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.