Yes / The school environment is an ideal setting for promoting physical activity (PA). Wearable activity trackers (wearables) have previously been implemented, in research, as intervention tools within the school-environment. However, the large-scale use and acceptance of wearables, in schools, is unknown. This study distributed a cross-sectional survey to school staff to investigate the prevalence of child and adolescent wearable use in schools, including when and how they are used, and school staff's willingness to use them in the future (as implemented by school staff). This survey consisted of between 13 and 22 items, including closed-ended and open-ended questions. Closed-ended responses were displayed descriptively (wearable prevalence and characteristics), and open-ended qualitative responses were categorised using descriptive content analysis (how wearables are used). 1087 school staff provided valid responses. Of those, 896 (82.4%) had never used a wearable as a teaching or support tool for their students, and 120 (11%) currently used- and 71 (6.5%) had previously used- a wearable as a teaching or support tool for their students. When wearables were used, school staff implemented their use regularly and during physical education lessons or throughout the entire school day. Wearables were used to monitor or increase student's PA levels, or for student and staff educational purposes (e.g., academic learning, movement breaks). Most school staff were willing to use a wearable as a teaching or support tool to promote student's PA, and/or learning about PA, in the future. This study is the first study to explore the widescale use and acceptance of children and adolescents using wearables in the school-setting. Findings may inform the development of future school-based interventions and public health initiatives for physical activity promotion, using wearables. / This study is funded as part of a PhD studentship by the Born in Bradford study. The Born in Bradford study receives core infrastructure funding from the Wellcome Trust (WT101597MA) and the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), under its NIHR ARC Yorkshire and Humber (NIHR200166) and Clinical Research Network (CRN) research delivery support. For this piece of work, funding from the Sport England’s Local Delivery Pilot awarded Born in Bradford funding for this PhD studentship. S.A.C is supported by the NIHR Leicester Biomedical Research Centre—Lifestyle theme.

The Quantified Self movement has led to an increased routine use of consumer wearables, generating large amounts of person-generated wearable device data. This has become an opportunity to researchers to conduct research with large-scale person-generated wearable device data without having to collect data in a costly and time-consuming way. However, there are known challenges of wearable device data such as missing data or inaccurate data which raises the need to assess the quality of data before conducting research. Currently, there is a lack of in-depth understanding on data quality challenges of using person-generated wearable device data for research purposes, and how data quality assessment should be conducted. Data quality assessment could be especially a burden to those without the domain knowledge on a specific data type, which might be the case for emerging biomedical data sources. The goal of this dissertation is to advance the knowledge on data quality challenges and assessment of person-generated wearable device data and facilitate data quality assessment for those without the domain knowledge on the emerging data type. The dissertation consists of two aims: (1) identifying data quality dimensions important for assessing the quality of person-generated wearable device data for research purposes, (2) designing and evaluating an interactive data quality characterization tool that supports researchers in assessing the fitness-for-use of fitness tracker data. In the first aim, a multi-method approach was taken, conducting literature review, survey, and focus group discussion sessions. We found that intrinsic data quality dimensions applicable to electronic health record data such as conformance, completeness, and plausibility are applicable to person-generated wearable device data. In addition, contextual/fitness-for-use dimensions such as breadth and density completeness, and temporal data granularity were identified given the fact that our focus was on assessing data quality for research purposes. In the second aim, we followed an iterative design process from understanding informational needs to designing a prototype, and evaluating the usability of the final version of a tool. The tool allows users to customize the definition of data completeness (fitness-for-use measures), and provides data summarization on the cohort that meets that definition. We found that the interactive tool that incorporates fitness-for-use measures and allows customization on data completeness, can support assessing fitness-for-use assessment more accurately and in less time than a tool that only presents information on intrinsic data quality measures.

Half of American women do not sustain recommended levels of physical activity (PA). Wearable activity trackers (WATs) may increase both awareness of, and PA if worn daily. Thus, WATs should include features and designs that encourage daily use. This study aimed to determine WAT features and designs most appealing to women and the motivational effects of various WATs. For this mixed-method pilot study, 15 women each trialed three WATs; documented daily PA levels; and rated their satisfaction with each device's comfort, features, and motivational effect. Additionally, participants shared experiences and feedback in focus groups. Features that promote adoption of WATs among women are, 1) comfort 2) extended battery life, 3) durability, 4) immediate PA feedback, 5) intuitive PA sensing, and 6) programmability. WATs with these preferred qualities may effectively motivate women to increase PA, leading to improved overall health, and reduce healthcare costs.

Environ 5% des patientes sont diagnostiquées chaque année avec un cancer du sein d’emblée métastatique et 20 à 30% des cancers du sein localisés évoluent vers un stade secondairement métastatique. Les bénéfices de l’activité physique pendant les traitements chez les patientes avec un cancer du sein localisé ont largement été démontrés mais la littérature est limitée dans le cancer du sein métastatique. Ce travail de thèse a permis d’évaluer les effets potentiels de l’activité physique chez des patientes atteintes d’un cancer du sein métastatique à travers trois études.L’étude observationnelle StoRM a montré une association du niveau d’activité physique recueilli par questionnaire à une meilleure survie des patientes HER2. L’étude interventionnelle ABLE a mis en évidence la faisabilité d’une intervention en activité physique avec une montre connectée dans cette population avec un excellent taux d’adhérence (96%), l’intérêt et la volonté des patientes pour les programmes d’activité physique ainsi qu’une amélioration fonctionnelle. L’intervention a contribué au un maintien de la qualité de vie, de la fatigue et du niveau d’activité physique malgré les traitements et l’avancée de la maladie. De potentiels biomarqueurs prédictifs d’une progression tumorale ont été identiés. L’étude MUST a montré que l’antioxydant SOD et de la force isométrique d’extension du quadriceps semblent prévenir la sarcopénie et une association entre le statut sarcopénie et le risque de toxicités a été confirmé. Ce travail de thèse représente une première étape dans l’analyse des effets de l’activité physique auprès de patientes atteintes d’un cancer du sein métastatique. L’activité physique semble être bénéfique dans cette population, mais ces résultats nécessitent d’être confirmés dans une étude à plus grande échelle. Ces résultats préliminaires soulignent l’importance de proposer des interventions adaptées en activité physique aux patientes atteintes d’un cancer du sein métastatique dès le diagnostic pour poursuivre un mode de vie actif le plus longtemps possible / Approximately 5% of patients are diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer each year and 20 to 30% of localized breast cancers become secondarily metastatic. Benefits of physical activity during treatment in patients with localized breast cancer have been widely demonstrated, but the literature is limited in metastatic breast cancer. This thesis work assessed the potential effects of physical activity in patients with metastatic breast cancer through three studies.The StoRM observational study showed an association between the level of physical activity collected by questionnaire with an improvement of survival for HER2 patients. The ABLE intervention study highlighted the feasibility of a physical activity intervention with an activity tracker in this population with an excellent adherence rate (96%), patients' interest and willingness to participate in physical activity programs and functional improvements. The intervention contributed to maintaining quality of life, fatigue and physical activity levels despite treatment and disease progression. Potential biomarkers predictive of tumor progression have been identified. The MUST study showed that the antioxidant SOD and quadriceps isometric extension force appear to prevent sarcopenia and an association between sarcopenia status and toxicity risk was confirmed. This thesis work represents a first step in analyzing the effects of physical activity on patients with metastatic breast cancer. Physical activity appears to be beneficial in this population, but these results need to be confirmed in a larger scale study. These preliminary results highlight the importance of providing appropriate physical activity interventions for patients with metastatic breast cancer at the time of diagnosis in order to maintain an active lifestyle as long as possible

Childhood obesity is a foremost concern throughout the health care community. Approximately 17.6% of the pediatric population meet the criteria for obesity, which can lead to health disparities later in life, such as hypertension, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and metabolic syndrome. Emerging mobile and wearable lifestyle tracking devices can be a viable solution to the challenging problem of childhood obesity through behavior changes, feasibility, and adherence. The purpose of this literature review was to determine the effect that mobile and wearable activity tracking devices have on the obese pediatric population. A centralized review of the literature was conducted using various data basesand resulted in 19 articles. 5 articles were chosen to review in more detail. 13 other articles were hand searched through credible resource citations, rendering 14 articles that met all criteria. The three general themes found in this literature review suggest that wearable activity tracking devices can be designed and effectively used by the pediatric population. Also, wearable activity tracking devices are accurate in conveying information on physical activity, calories, and heart rate. Lastly, wearable activity tracking devices can initiate behavioral changes in children leading to an increase in physical activity, resulting in the prevention and treatment of pediatric obesity.While in a majority of the studies analyzed trails were short. The research suggests wearable activity tracking devices will produce the desired results of increased activity in pediatric populations when they are worn correctly, are adequately engaging, and when they are designed in a feasible manner that is appealing to children.