The Gillings School of Global Public Health partnered with the research institute RTI International to see if Fitbits and other activity trackers are truly accurate.
The study found these devices were most accurate when counting steps and less reliable when measuring sleep quality.
Robert Furberg, a clinical informaticist and research technologist at RTI, co-authored the study.
“At the end of the day, the devices may not be 100 percent accurate all of the time, but in cases where researchers ... don’t need a really high level of precision, these devices really do hold a lot of promise for people who are looking to measure physical activity over time or look for changes in physical activity in people over time,” Furberg said.
Furberg said he also learned people show enthusiasm for wearable technology like Fitbits.
“It is not every day that as a researcher, you discover that your primary data collection instrument is a desirable object that people have already integrated in their lives,” Furberg said.
Dr. Kelly Evenson, a research professor of epidemiology at the Gillings School, led the study as part of the University Scholars Program at RTI International.
Evenson was matched up with Robert Furberg’s project at RTI International because their work complemented each other, Furberg said.
“Given her background as a physical activity epidemiologist, and given my interest in censor-based, passive, longitudinal data collection using smart phone applications or different kinds of wearables or implantable devices, it seemed to be a natural fit," he said. "She is interested in measuring the behavior, and I am interested in kind of measuring anything.”
