REVIEW:
WRIST-WORN TECH:
INVESTMENT OR WASTE OF MONEY?
With the popularity of wearable tech showing no signs of abating,
its accuracy once again comes under scrutiny.
WORDS: ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR MIKE CLIMSTEIN & JOE WALSH
Title: Accuracy of Heart Rate Watches: Implications for Weight
Management
Authors: Drs Wallen and colleagues. (Centre for Research on Exercise,
Physical Activity and Health, Qld. Australia)
Source: PLOS ONE, May 2016. Available free online: journals.plos.org/
plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0154420
Introduction: Every time we publish a new Research Review, we
receive five to 10 emails pertaining to the article we have chosen, which
is manageable – indeed welcomed. However, when we published our
Summer 2015 Research Review on ‘wearable technology’, we set
records with regard to feedback! So after lengthy discussions on its
pro’s and con’s, we decided to re-visit this hot topic, focusing on the
accuracy of these devices for assessing exercise heart rate and the
associated energy expenditure.
Let us premise this article by stating that the equipment
in our laboratories for accurately assessing heart rate (via
electrocardiography) and energy expenditure (via indirect calorimetry
using a metabolic cart) costs thousands of dollars! More specifically,
a quality, brand name, new metabolic cart will cost anywhere from
$35,000 and an additional $10,000 or so for an ECG to determine
heart rate (and ECG). Now, common sense must prevail here… if
these wearable technology devices for your wrist cost approximately
$399 (FitBit Surge for example) to $799 (such as Garmin Fenix 3HR),
you can’t realistically expect the same accuracy as a metabolic cart
or ECG… or can you?
There is no doubt that these devices are extremely popular in
the health and fitness industry (worldwide sales estimated at $12.6
billion USD by 2018), and are continuing to improve in their accuracy.
Here, we review research that was conducted at the University of
Queensland (UQ), a prestigious institution that conducts a large
number of studies each year in the areas of health and fitness.
Matthew Wallen, a PhD candidate at UQ, and colleagues recently
investigated the accuracy of four popular wrist-worn monitors (Apple
Watch, FitBit Charger HR, Samsung Gear S and Mia Alpha) with
regard to heart rate (resting and exercise) and energy expenditure in
healthy individuals.
Methods: A total of 22 active participants (males and females,
average VO2max ~ 50.1ml/kg/min) aged in their mid 20’s volunteered
44 | NETWORK SPRING 2016