The use of wearable devices to monitor health and fitness has come under scrutiny after it was discovered the heart rate tracking technology used in Fitbit devices delivers inaccurate readings.
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Given the dubious circumstances for conducting the research as well as its scientific and methodological shortcomings, Fitbit isn’t entirely wrong to question the validity of the study.
On Thursday, May 19, an amendment was made to the complaint that added a new study, which looked at how the Fitbit trackers worked for 43 healthy adults with an electrocardiogram (ECG) and against each other.
Next time you exercise with your Fitbit wristband, you should know that the readings by your health band may be off by some degree.
“Calculating a heart rate that’s off by 20 or 30 beats per minute can be unsafe – especially for people at high risk of heart disease”, the report said. “Overall, the results of this investigation demonstrate that the PurePulse technology integrated in Fitbit’s heart rate monitoring devices is not a valid method for heart rate measurement, and can not be used to provide a meaningful estimate of a user’s heart rate”, the study reads. A spokesperson for Fitbit told CNN the study “lacks scientific rigour and is the product of flawed methodology”.
To provide a comparison for the results the researchers also monitored heart rates with a EGC.
Fitbit did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment, but a Fitbit statement posted by Gizmodo took aim at the study’s results. Furthermore, there is no evidence the device used in the purported “study’ was tested for accuracy”, in a statement released by the company.
Fitbit spent three years developing the PurePulse technology and conducts “extensive internal studies” that test the accuracy of its products, the spokesman said.
Subjects were then hooked up to a BioHarness device that produced an electrocardiogram (ECG), to record the heart’s rhythm against the data being produced by Fitbit’s devices. Fitbit Charge HR is the #1 selling fitness tracker on the market, and is embraced by millions of consumers around the globe.
The Fitbit Charge HR and Surge were tested on 21 women and 22 men, who wore the device while resting (seated and standing), jogging on a treadmill, jumping rope, and climbing stairs.
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Fitbit said, “We stand behind our heart-rate monitoring technology and all our products, and continue to believe the plaintiffs’ allegations do not have any merit”.
