A long-term health study called All of Us, which is run by the US’ National Institutes of Health (NIH), will use fitness devices from Fitbit to collect data on Americans. The All of Us program aims to collect information, like biological and lifestyle data, from over a million people.
By collecting that data, correlations between various aspects of living and people’s long-term health outcomes may be discovered.
Fitbit products were picked for inclusion in the study by Scripps Translational Science Institute (STSI), which runs part of the project. A few factors played a role, including the ease of use of Fitbit’s devices. Most importantly, 95% of published papers using wearables have featured Fitbit products, so the biomedical field evidently prefers them.
As part of a pilot program, 10,000 Fitbit Charge 2 and Alta HR units will be distributed to All of Us participants for a one-year study. Researchers will use that pilot to figure out how wearables can best be used in All of Us.
