Open AccessEstablishing a Global Standard for Wearable Devices in Sport and Exercise Medicine: Perspectives from Academic and Industry Stakeholders
Author(s) -
Garrett I. Ash,
Matthew StultsKolehmainen,
Michael A. Busa,
Allison E. Gaffey,
Konstantinos Angeloudis,
Borja Muñiz-Pardos,
Robert W. Gregory,
Robert A. Huggins,
Nancy S. Redeker,
Stuart A. Weinzimer,
Lauren A. Grieco,
Kate Lyden,
Esmeralda Megally,
Ioannis Vogiatzis,
Laurie Ann Scher,
Xinxin Zhu,
Julien S. Baker,
Cynthia Brandt,
Michael S. Businelle,
Lisa M. Fucito,
Stephanie Griggs,
Robert Jarrin,
Bobak J. Mortazavi,
Temiloluwa Prioleau,
Walter Roberts,
Elias K. Spanakis,
Laura M. Nally,
André Debruyne,
Norbert Bachl,
Fabio Pigozzi,
Farzin Halabchi,
Dimakatso Ramagole,
Dina Christina Janse van Rensburg,
Bernd Wolfarth,
C Fossati,
Sandra Rozenštoka,
Kumpei Tanisawa,
Mats Börjesson,
José Antonio Casajús,
Alejandro González-Agüero,
Irina Zelenkova,
Jeroen Swart,
Gamze Gürsoy,
William Meyerson,
Jason Liu,
Dov Greenbaum,
Yannis Pitsiladis,
Mark Gerstein
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
sports medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.092
H-Index - 184
eISSN - 1179-2035
pISSN - 0112-1642
DOI - 10.1007/s40279-021-01543-5
Subject(s) - stakeholder , flexibility (engineering) , wearable technology , sports medicine , quality (philosophy) , business , return on investment , marketing , wearable computer , public relations , computer science , medicine , political science , management , philosophy , epistemology , psychiatry , production (economics) , economics , macroeconomics , embedded system
Millions of consumer sport and fitness wearables (CSFWs) are used worldwide, and millions of datapoints are generated by each device. Moreover, these numbers are rapidly growing, and they contain a heterogeneity of devices, data types, and contexts for data collection. Companies and consumers would benefit from guiding standards on device quality and data formats. To address this growing need, we convened a virtual panel of industry and academic stakeholders, and this manuscript summarizes the outcomes of the discussion. Our objectives were to identify (1) key facilitators of and barriers to participation by CSFW manufacturers in guiding standards and (2) stakeholder priorities. The venues were the Yale Center for Biomedical Data Science Digital Health Monthly Seminar Series (62 participants) and the New England Chapter of the American College of Sports Medicine Annual Meeting (59 participants). In the discussion, stakeholders outlined both facilitators of (e.g., commercial return on investment in device quality, lucrative research partnerships, and transparent and multilevel evaluation of device quality) and barriers (e.g., competitive advantage conflict, lack of flexibility in previously developed devices) to participation in guiding standards. There was general agreement to adopt Keadle et al.'s standard pathway for testing devices (i.e., benchtop, laboratory, field-based, implementation) without consensus on the prioritization of these steps. Overall, there was enthusiasm not to add prescriptive or regulatory steps, but instead create a networking hub that connects companies to consumers and researchers for flexible guidance navigating the heterogeneity, multi-tiered development, dynamicity, and nebulousness of the CSFW field.