Based on the research findings by Parks Associates, 27% of U.S. broadband households currently own and use at least one connected health device. Parks Associates shared the results at the Connected Health Summit: Engaging Consumers, held earlier this month in San Diego. The data is collected via a survey of more than 5000 US broadband households.
According to Parks, the research also showed that another 13% of these households share the intention to purchase a connected health device in the next 12 months. Park cited an earlier research it conducted, which expects more than 32 million U.S. consumers to actively track their personal health and fitness online or via mobile by 2016. The connected health devices covered in the research include the exercise equipments with built-in app support, digital pedometers or fitness/activity trackers, blood pressure cuff,s digital weight scales, GPS watches, sports watches with built-in heart-rate monitor, sleep-quality monitors, smart pill boxes and glucometers. The study found that the exercise equipment with built-in app support and the digital pedometer or fitness/activity tracker are the most commonly used connected health devices among these households with an adoption rate of close to 14% and 7% respectively. The blood pressure cuff followed closely with an adoption rate of slightly more than 6%.
"The most popular connected health devices are treadmills, exercise bikes, and ellipticals. These devices come with built-in support for mobile health apps, which effectively merges the demands of mobile and healthcare consumers. Wearables are another developing area for digital health, and this market is getting increasingly competitive, with Apple scheduled to announce its iWatch next week to compete with big brands like Motorola, Samsung, and LG. To be successful in connected health, all form factors will need to leverage mobile connections in order to keep users engaged."
- Harry Wang, Director, Health & Mobile Product Research, Parks Associates