A Preliminary Analysis Of Mvpa Among College Students Based On Wearable Devices Usage

INTRODUCTION: Wearable devices (WD) have become popular tools for tracking and promoting physical activity (PA). However, much of the evidence supporting their effectiveness comes from intervention settings, limiting our understanding of their use in everyday situations among college students. Purpose: This study aims to compare PA levels between college students who use WD and those who do not, with further distinction among WD users based on whether they actively track their PA. METHODS: Participants were classified into three groups based on their reported use of WD through a questionnaire: not using WD, using WD but not tracking PA, and using WD and tracking PA. All participants wore a triaxial accelerometer on their right wrist for 7 days, including 2 weekend days, to measure movement and PA. Data from the accelerometer, including vector magnitude and minutes spent in moderate to vigorous intensity physical activity (MVPA) as defined by Troiano cut points, were compared among the three groups using ANOVA with Bonferroni adjustment after checking for normality and equal variances assumptions. RESULTS: For this preliminary analysis, 9 participants were not currently using WD, 2 reported using WD but not tracking PA, and 7 reported using WD and tracking PA. The average age of participants was 20.23 ± 0.82 years, with 13 females and 5 males. Eleven participants identified as non-Hispanic white. On average, participants spent 1504.73 ± 276.75 minutes in MVPA per week, with an average vector magnitude of 15539298 ± 2081054. The analyses found no statistically significant differences in MVPA (F = 0.42, p = .67) and vector magnitude (F = 0.27, p = .77) among the three groups. CONCLUSIONS: Limited by a small sample size, this analysis suggests that using wearable devices and tracking physical activity may not significantly promote physical activity among college students in everyday situations. Future research should focus on identifying effective strategies to utilize wearable devices for promoting PA in this population.