Hawthorne Effect in Screening Ambulatory Activity Status Using Wearable Pedometers Varies Across Age Groups

Area of Science:

• Exercise Science
• Behavioral Science
• Human Physiology

Background:

• Wearable step-counting devices are common in research for ambulatory activity assessment.
• The Hawthorne effect, increased performance due to perceived monitoring, is often overlooked in such studies.
• Understanding this effect is crucial for accurate ambulatory activity measurement.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess ambulatory activity levels across different age groups in men.
• To quantify the impact of wearing step-counting devices on daily ambulatory activity.
• To investigate the Hawthorne effect in the context of wearable technology.

Main Methods:

• 60 men were divided into 3 age groups (20-25, 40-45, 60-65 years).
• Participants were assigned to experimental (aware of monitoring) or control (blinded) groups.
• Step count data were collected before and after a 7-day intervention with a sham pedometer watch.

Main Results:

• A significant positive Hawthorne effect was observed across all age groups.
• Ambulatory activity increased by 62.90% in young, 55.58% in middle-aged, and 81.96% in older adults.
• Experimental groups showed significantly higher step counts than control groups (p<0.001).

Conclusions:

• The Hawthorne effect substantially increases ambulatory activity when individuals are aware of monitoring.
• All experimental groups demonstrated over a 50% increase in step count compared to baseline.
• This highlights the need to account for the Hawthorne effect in research using wearable activity trackers.