The US National Institutes of Health (NIH) has selected wearable monitor Fitbit for a use in large scale health study.

The program, called All of Us, was established by the Obama White House in 2015. It is looking to sign up over a million Americans to “accelerate research that may improve the ability to prevent and treat disease based on individual characteristics.”

Researchers will use data gathered from the program to learn more about how individual differences in lifestyle, environment and biological makeup can influence health and disease. The program is being run by The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI), which claims to be ‘one of the world’s largest, private, non-profit research organisations’, with campuses in Florida and California.

A subset of the program is The Participant Center, a TSRI unit tasked with enrolling and engaging diverse populations across the USA. Through this network, TSRI will provide up to 10,000 Fitbit Charge 2 and Fitbit Alta HR wearable devices to a representative sample of All of Us volunteers for a one-year study. At the end of the study, the researchers will provide recommendations on how the devices could be more broadly incorporated into the program.

The study will “generate a data set that presents a unique opportunity to explore the relationship between health indicators such as physical activity, heart rate and sleep in conjunction with other critical health outcomes that will be captured as part of the All of Us program.”

Fitbit was selected after a review of the wearable market because of its capabilities and the popularity of its devices. It was selected ahead of similar devices from Apple and Xiaomi.

“The Fitbit devices selected track a combination of physical activity, sleep, and heart rate parameters,” said TSRI’s Eric Topol. “The popularity of Fitbit devices among millions of Americans, combined with their ease of use, including multi-day battery life and broad compatibility with smartphones, made it a natural choice for this pilot program.”

To-date, more than 470 published studies have employed a Fitbit device, including use of wearables in areas such as diabetes, cardiovascular health, oncology, mental health and post-surgery.

(NIH) has selected wearable monitor Fitbit for a use in large scale health study.

The program, called All of Us, was established by the Obama White House in 2015. It is looking to sign up over a million Americans to “accelerate research that may improve the ability to prevent and treat disease based on individual characteristics.”

Researchers will use data gathered from the program to learn more about how individual differences in lifestyle, environment and biological makeup can influence health and disease. The program is being run by The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI), which claims to be ‘one of the world’s largest, private, non-profit research organisations’, with campuses in Florida and California.

A subset of the program is The Participant Center, a TSRI unit tasked with enrolling and engaging diverse populations across the USA. Through this network, TSRI will provide up to 10,000 Fitbit Charge 2 and Fitbit Alta HR wearable devices to a representative sample of All of Us volunteers for a one-year study. At the end of the study, the researchers will provide recommendations on how the devices could be more broadly incorporated into the program.

The study will “generate a data set that presents a unique opportunity to explore the relationship between health indicators such as physical activity, heart rate and sleep in conjunction with other critical health outcomes that will be captured as part of the All of Us program.”

Fitbit was selected after a review of the wearable market because of its capabilities and the popularity of its devices. It was selected ahead of similar devices from Apple and Xiaomi.

“The Fitbit devices selected track a combination of physical activity, sleep, and heart rate parameters,” said TSRI’s Eric Topol. “The popularity of Fitbit devices among millions of Americans, combined with their ease of use, including multi-day battery life and broad compatibility with smartphones, made it a natural choice for this pilot program.”

To-date, more than 470 published studies have employed a Fitbit device, including use of wearables in areas such as diabetes, cardiovascular health, oncology, mental health and post-surgery.

Comment below to have your say on this story.

If you have a news story or tip-off, get in touch at editorial@governmentnews.com.au.  

Sign up to the Government News newsletter