Can fitness trackers improve life expectancy of elders?

The review found that groups of older adults who use physical activity monitors, such as step counters, fitness-trackers and other monitors were moderately more active than the control groups. The paper was published in the European Review of Aging and Physical Activity [1].

Physical inactivity is a growing worldwide problem and it has been reported to cause 9% of all premature death [2]. The amount of daily physical activity decreases with age and one in eight European adults age 55 or older never or hardly ever, engage in moderate to vigorous physical activity. Functional decline is expected and unavoidable in older adults, but regular exercise can minimize the physiological effects of an otherwise sedentary lifestyle and thus increase life expectancy by improving function of daily living and by slowing progression of disease and disability [3].

Among older adults, the use of physical activity monitoring (e.g. using step counters, wearables, fitness trackers or similar) has been reported to be feasible [4, 5] and several recently published randomized controlled trials report promising results [6–11]. However, the effect of physical activity monitor-based interventions in older adults remains unclear and has yet to be systematically reviewed.

The authors of this paper performed a systematic search in the databases MEDLINE, EMBASE, SPORTDiscus, CINAHL, and CENTRAL. Twenty-one studies with 2,783 participants were included. Physical activity monitor-based interventions had a moderate effect compared to control interventions, corresponding to an average increase of 1,297 steps per day in the intervention groups. No impact of patient and intervention characteristics on the effect estimates were found, which means that the current evidence supports the use of physical activity monitors to a broad population, but the individual effect might be different.

In summary, it seems safe, effective and feasible to use physical activity monitors in physical activity interventions in older adults and clinical decision makers should consider using these when trying to increase the public health.

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