DOWNLOAD THE COMPLETE PROJECT

7 Users found this project useful

Impact of Wearable Health Devices on Physical Activity Monitoring among University Students in Nigeria

Abstract

Physical inactivity is an important public health concern that may increase the risk of obesity, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and other non-communicable diseases. University students may experience prolonged sedentary behaviour because of academic activities, extensive screen time, transportation patterns, and limited participation in structured physical activity. Wearable health devices, including smartwatches, fitness trackers, and activity-monitoring bands, provide digital tools for tracking physical activity indicators such as daily steps, active minutes, distance travelled, energy expenditure, and heart rate. By providing users with continuous feedback about their activity levels, wearable devices may increase awareness of personal physical activity patterns and encourage regular monitoring. Against this background, this study investigates the impact of wearable health devices on physical activity monitoring among university students in Nigeria. The study will be anchored on the Technology Acceptance Model, Social Cognitive Theory, and Health Belief Model. The Technology Acceptance Model explains how perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, convenience, accuracy, and trust in wearable health devices may influence students' adoption and continued use of the technology. Social Cognitive Theory explains how self-monitoring, feedback, goal-setting, reinforcement, and self-efficacy may influence students' physical activity behaviours. The Health Belief Model explains how perceived susceptibility to lifestyle-related diseases, perceived severity, perceived benefits of physical activity, perceived barriers, and cues to action may influence students' engagement with activity monitoring. Collectively, these theoretical perspectives provide a suitable framework for explaining how wearable health devices may influence physical activity monitoring among university students in Nigeria. The study will adopt a quantitative quasi-experimental or analytical cross-sectional research design. The study population will comprise undergraduate and postgraduate students aged 18 years and above enrolled in selected public and private universities across Nigeria. A multistage sampling technique will be used to select geopolitical zones, states, universities, faculties or departments, and eligible students. Wearable health-device use will be assessed using indicators such as type of device, frequency of use, duration of use, daily wear time, access to activity-monitoring applications, step-count monitoring, active-minute tracking, heart-rate monitoring, distance tracking, activity goal-setting, feedback received, and frequency of reviewing activity data. Physical activity monitoring will be assessed using indicators such as frequency of activity tracking, recording of daily steps, monitoring of active minutes, tracking of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, monitoring of sedentary periods, achievement of personal activity targets, regular review of activity trends, and use of recorded information to guide physical activity decisions. Data will be collected using structured questionnaires, validated physical activity assessment tools, wearable-device records or application data where available and appropriately consented, and relevant university health programme records. Descriptive statistics will be used to summarize participants' characteristics, wearable-device use, and physical activity-monitoring patterns. Inferential statistical techniques, including chi-square tests, t-tests, correlation analysis, and logistic or multiple regression analysis where appropriate, will be used to determine the impact of wearable health devices on physical activity monitoring. Where a quasi-experimental design is adopted, physical activity-monitoring measures before and after introduction of wearable devices may be compared with those of a comparison group to determine changes associated with the intervention. Diagnostic tests will also be conducted to assess the reliability, validity, and robustness of the findings. The study is expected to find that wearable health devices have a significant positive impact on physical activity monitoring among university students in Nigeria. Students who use wearable health devices are expected to demonstrate greater awareness and monitoring of their daily physical activity than students without comparable access to the technology. Continuous feedback on steps, active minutes, sedentary time, distance, and other activity indicators may encourage students to monitor their behaviour more consistently and establish personal physical activity goals. Wearable devices may also provide convenient self-monitoring tools that allow students to observe changes in their activity patterns and identify periods of prolonged inactivity. Goal-setting, reminders, progress notifications, and activity summaries may further encourage regular monitoring. However, device cost, battery limitations, technical problems, inaccurate measurements, discomfort during prolonged use, limited digital literacy, privacy concerns, loss of motivation, and unequal access to wearable technologies may reduce sustained use. The study therefore expects affordable, user-friendly, reliable, and appropriately supported wearable health devices to contribute significantly to improved physical activity monitoring among university students in Nigeria. The study is expected to contribute to the literature on wearable health technology, physical activity monitoring, digital health, university student health, health promotion, sedentary behaviour, non-communicable disease prevention, and public health in Nigeria. The findings will provide useful information to the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Federal Ministry of Education, National Universities Commission, universities, university health centres, public health practitioners, fitness and wellness programmes, digital health developers, technology providers, development partners, and policymakers regarding the potential use of wearable technologies for promoting healthy lifestyles among young adults. The study will also provide evidence-based recommendations for integrating wearable-device-based activity monitoring into university wellness programmes, promoting affordable access to activity-monitoring technologies, improving digital health literacy, encouraging evidence-based physical activity goals, protecting users' health data, and developing sustainable strategies for promoting active lifestyles among university students in Nigeria.

Keywords: Wearable health devices, physical activity monitoring, university students, fitness trackers, smartwatches, digital health, physical activity, sedentary behaviour, health promotion, Nigeria, public health.