India West: UPenn Study Provides Insight into How Consumers Use Wearable Devices in Relation to Health

“… With the popularity of activity trackers on the rise, researchers, led by Patel, are examining their usage patterns to determine how the devices are being utilized, their target market, and ways to encourage sustained use of the gadgets, it said. The Patel-led study was recently published in the Annals of Internal Medicine and provided insight regarding who is using this type of wearable device, how activity trackers are being employed and the length of time consumers will maintain their usage, according to the release. ‘Many people are excited by the potential of using activity trackers to monitor healthy behaviors, but there is very little evidence on who is using them and whether or not use is sustained over time,’ Patel, a graduate of the University of Michigan (bachelor’s and medical degrees), UPenn Perelman School of Medicine (master’s) and UPenn Wharton School of Business (M.B.A.), said in the release. ‘We found that, though use grew over time, it really varied depending on individual characteristics like age and income. We also found that once someone started using an activity tracker, sustained use at six months was high at 80%.'” Read more at India West.