Using smartwatches to measure alcohol use
Exploring the feasibility of using smartwatch-based Ecological Momentary Assessment to capture data about alcohol use in young adult drinkers
Team: Chris Stone, Sally Adams, Robyn Wootton, Andy Skinner
Overview: Being always at hand, smartwatches provide a convenient and unobtrusive way of recording data about peoples’ behaviour in their natural environment. We used micro-Ecological Momentary Assessment, a method where participants are asked a small number of questions at regular intervals, to investigate patterns of alcohol drinking in a sample of young adults taken from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (a cohort study based in Bristol known as Children of the 90s). We looked at compliance with the data capture in participants of higher and lower socio-economic position (SEP), comparing it with an online diary-based measure known as Timeline Follow-back. We found that in both methods there were lower levels of engagement shown by lower-SEP participants. Compliance with the smartwatch method was initially much higher than the diary method but declined to reach similar levels after about 3 months. Our findings demonstrate the feasibility and acceptability of using smartwatch EMA methods for capturing alcohol consumption. These methods have the benefits of capturing more detailed information, with greater participant engagement and less missing data, and with the potential to be less susceptible to recall errors than established methods such as online diaries.
Funding: This work was funded by a UKRI Innovation Fellowship (Dr Andy Skinner), and further supported by the Integrative Cancer Epidemiology Programme, funded by Cancer Research UK. The MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit is supported by the Medical Research Council and the University of Bristol. Dr Robyn Wootton is funded by a postdoctoral fellowship from the South-Eastern Norway Regional Health Authority. The UK Medical Research Council, Wellcome, and the University of Bristol provide core support for the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children.