SMART Fitness: Usage and attitudes towards wearable fitness tracking devices for improved physical fitness among health care professionals in South India

Background: Wearable devices for tracking fitness are currently used among young adults such as health care professionals for their ease in self-monitoring of individual fitness goals. Objectives: To determine the usage and attitudes towards wearable fitness tracking devices among health care professionals. Methodology: A Google docs survey using a pre-tested questionnaire was designed and survey link was shared using social media networks. The respondent data was received in real-time and analyzed. Results: Out of 588 respondents, 377(64.11%) were in ages 18-22 years, 296(50.3%) were males, 380 (64.6%) were medical undergraduates. Majority participants 493 (83.8%) heard about wearable fitness tracking devices and only 132(22.8%) ever used wearables. Among ever users of wearable devices, only 54(35.8%) were wearing devices to track fitness on a daily basis. Proportion of participants, using wearable fitness tracking device for a duration, between 2 months to 2 years were motivated more for being physically active than those using for a period of less than 2 months and more than 2 years respectively, and this difference was found to be statistically significant having a p value of <0.05. Conclusion: The study reveals the minimal usage of wearable fitness devices among health care professionals on daily basis.