Exercise monitoring of young adults using a Facebook application

Abstract

Facebook, with a record 1.7+ billion monthly active users, is increasinglythe platform of choice for a multitude of e-Health applications. This workpresents our experience in exercise monitoring using a custom-builtFacebook application for activity self-reporting. A group of young adults (n= 49, Age = 24 ± 7, BMI = 22.5 ± 3) took part in a 5-week pilot study,part of the NutriHeAl intervention project. Participants reported their dailyexercise activities for an average of 33±5 days and were also equippedwith Digital Pedometers (Fibit Zips) for the full duration, allowing theevaluation of their activity reporting accuracy by comparing steps x min-1to a “truth ceiling” value for two pre-defined exercise categories (2+ & 3+MET intensity). We found that users not only reported their exerciseconsistently for an extended period of time but also achieved an averageaccuracy score of 71±21% (82± 18% for 2+MET exercises), making thisnovel exercise monitoring methodology a formidable tool for a modernphysician’s digital arsenal. In addition, the developed tools and processescan easily be re-used in other e-Health applications.

More information

Identifiers

ORCID for Mark Weal: orcid.org/0000-0001-6251-8786

Catalogue record

Export record

Altmetrics