"Dream, Dream, Dream! Conduct these dreams into thoughts, and then transform them into action."
- Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
"Dream, Dream, Dream! Conduct these dreams into thoughts, and then transform them into action."
- Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
31 Jul 2023
A new study has found that people with heart failure can improve their health significantly by increasing their daily step count. The study, published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology: Heart Failure, suggests that physical data from wearable devices like Fitbits and step counters can be clinically significant.
The study was conducted by Dr. Jessica Golbus and her team at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. They sought to determine the relationship between daily activity and patient outcomes for people with heart failure. The study provided 425 participants with a Fitbit and asked them to complete questionnaires through a smartphone application. The questions measured physical symptoms, quality of life, and social limitations.
The study found that higher daily step counts equated with increased scores for both physical limitation and total symptom scores. Changes in step count over time were also significantly associated with changing scores, suggesting that step count data from a wearable device may be leveraged to inform clinical care.
The study suggests that increasing daily step count can improve health status, and that increases in step count over time may be clinically meaningful. This information can be used by healthcare providers to help patients with heart failure improve their health and quality of life. Wearable devices like Fitbits and step counters can be used to track daily step count and help monitor progress.
