Wearable Exercise Technology and the Impact on College Women’s Physical Activity

ABSTRACT Increased exercise correlates with positive health outcomes in college women. Many women do not get the recommended physical activity during college. The purpose of this study was to analyze whether regular use of wearable exercise technology (i.e., smartphones, dedicated devices) during exercise was associated with increased exercise behaviors. The theoretical framework was Transtheoretical Model of Behavior Change. The participants were 289 undergraduate students, all women. The research design was a survey method using an online platform. The survey questionnaire was administered to identify motivational readiness (from never to regularly) for exercise and exercise technology use. Descriptive and inferential statistics (analysis of variance and Chi-Square) were used in analyzing the data. Of the 289 women participants, 80 were identified as meeting exercise recommendations, and 27 were regular users (6 months or longer) of exercise technology; of these 27, 23 were also regular exercisers. Chi-square tests identified a strong association between the most motivated group for regular exercise and for regular device use, suggesting that women who regularly used an exercise technology device were significantly more likely to be regularly exercising (Χ 2 (4) = 9.41, p = 0.05.).