Accuracy of the Multisensory Wristwatch Polar Vantage's Estimation of Energy Expenditure in Various Activities: Instrument Validation Study

Abstract

Background Sport watches and fitness trackers provide a feasible way of obtaining energy expenditure (EE) estimations in daily life as well as during exercise. However, today’s popular wrist-worn technologies show only poor-to-moderate EE accuracy. Recently, the invention of optical heart rate measurement and the further development of accelerometers in wrist units have opened up the possibility of measuring EE. Objective This study aimed to validate the new multisensory wristwatch Polar Vantage and its EE estimation in healthy individuals during low-to-high-intensity activities against indirect calorimetry. Methods Overall, 30 volunteers (15 females; mean age 29.5 [SD 5.1] years; mean height 1.7 [SD 0.8] m; mean weight 67.5 [SD 8.7] kg; mean maximal oxygen uptake 53.4 [SD 6.8] mL/min·kg) performed 7 activities—ranging in intensity from sitting to playing floorball—in a semistructured indoor environment for 10 min each, with 2-min breaks in between. These activities were performed while wearing the Polar Vantage M wristwatch and the MetaMax 3B spirometer. Results After EE estimation, a mean (SD) of 69.1 (42.7) kcal and 71.4 (37.8) kcal per 10-min activity were reported for the MetaMax 3B and the Polar Vantage, respectively, with a strong correlation of r=0.892 (P<.001). The systematic bias was 2.3 kcal (3.3%), with 37.8 kcal limits of agreement. The lowest mean absolute percentage errors were reported during the sitting and reading activities (9.1%), and the highest error rates during household chores (31.4%). On average, 59.5% of the mean EE values obtained by the Polar Vantage were within ±20% of accuracy when compared with the MetaMax 3B. The activity intensity quantified by perceived exertion (odds ratio [OR] 2.028; P<.001) and wrist circumference (OR −1.533; P=.03) predicted 29% of the error rates within the Polar Vantage. Conclusions The Polar Vantage has a statistically moderate-to-good accuracy in EE estimation that is activity dependent. During sitting and reading activities, the EE estimation is very good, whereas during nonsteady activities that require wrist and arm movement, the EE accuracy is only moderate. However, compared with other available wrist-worn EE monitors, the Polar Vantage can be recommended, as it performs among the best.