Research
Adherence
Cash incentives for physical activity via wearables may be less effective than charity incentives or no incentives, and can even reduce physical activity compared to control groups.
Be cautious with cash-based fitness challenges. Evidence suggests they may be less effective than charity-based incentives or no incentives, and can even reduce activity levels. Focus on intrinsic motivation or social/charitable rewards instead.
ModerateRefutesMEDIUM confidence
The group receiving cash incentives saw a reduction in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity when compared to the control group.
Why this rating
Based on a single large RCT (Finkelstein et al.) among others.
Source
Impact of remote patient monitoring on clinical outcomes: an updated meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials
Benjamin Noah et al. · npj Digital Medicine · 2017
DOI 10.1038/s41746-017-0002-4
Meta-analysis · 27 studiesCited 285×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- Remote patient monitoring (RPM) using wearable biosensors alone does not significantly improve clinical outcomes such as BMI, weight, blood pressure, or body fat percentage compared to usual care.Good
- Remote patient monitoring interventions that include personalized coaching, health behavior models, or clinician feedback loops are more successful in improving clinical outcomes than RPM alone.Good
Related findings · Adherence
- Regular physical activity (at least 150 minutes/week of moderate-intensity) reduces all-cause and cardiovascular mortality by 20-30% and lowers the risk of type 2 diabetes by 25-35%.Strong
- Increasing physical activity from a sedentary lifestyle to an active one in middle adulthood significantly reduces the risk of coronary events compared to remaining sedentary.Strong
- Resistance exercise is the only intervention capable of consistently restoring muscle function and strength in sarcopenia, partially overcoming age-related anabolic resistance.Strong
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