The Use of Wearable Monitoring Devices in Sports Sciences in COVID Years (2020–2022): A Systematic Review

Abstract

Purpose: Given the growth in the use of wearable measuring technology, this study aimed to investigate the frequency of writing about wearable monitoring devices in the field of sports sciences and sports-related health professions during the years affected by the COVID-19 pandemic (2020 to 2022). The goal was to observe the number of studies right before the quarantine and during the first years of pandemic. Methodology: A systematic literature analysis was performed in the Web of Science Core Collection (WoS CC) and Scopus databases in March 2023. The filters used in the search were the following: original scientific papers in the English language and open access. The research field was sports sciences in the past three years (2020–2022) in the Wos CC, and health professions and medicine in Scopus. Results: The initial search resulted in 54 studies in the WoS, 16 of which were included in a detailed qualitative analysis, and 297 studies in Scopus with 19 of them analyzed (35 altogether). The keywords used were “fitness watch” (sport watch, smartwatch), “smart shoes”, “smart clothing”, “smart ring”, “smart belt”, and “smart glasses”. In the past three years, there has been a steady increase in the number of studies using smart monitoring devices to measure their data (nine in 2020, nine in 2021, and seventeen in 2022). Results showed that the most used device is a smartwatch, while the most carried out studies were about physical activity and daily activities of living. Furthermore, there are more studies about measuring devices being used as testing equipment than about device performance in general. Conclusions: This study summarizes various research conducted in the field of sports with the use of wearable measuring devices to determine the frequency of use of such devices in sport studies.