Fitness Trackers Help Heart Disease Patients Walk 1,100 More Steps Daily

Executive Briefing

• Reveals that heart disease patients using wearables or apps walked nearly 1,100 more steps per day than non-users
• Adds roughly four extra minutes of moderate-to-vigorous activity daily, based on 14 clinical trials with 1,057 participants
• Highlights accessibility advantage as digital tools bypass barriers like cost, distance, and mobility limiting traditional cardiac rehab
• Cautions that no significant improvements in peak oxygen consumption were found, and longer studies are still needed
• Suggests wearables serve as a viable supplemental support tool within structured cardiac care plans, not a medical replacement