Survival of the Fittest? Examining Lapsing Behaviour in the Context of Elderly People and the Use of Physical Activity Tracker Applications

Physical activity (PA) tracker applications have been proposed as one potential solution to the increasingly prevalent physical inactivity problem among elderly people, but their long-term potential is limited by the frequent lapses in their use. In this study, our objective is to promote the understanding of the lapsing behaviour of PA tracker applications among elderly people. More specifically, we are interested in how gender, age, and household type as well as initial PA level and technology readiness (TR) affect the risk of lapsing. As the data for the study, we use actual PA tracker application usage data as well as survey data, which were both collected in our ongoing research program and are analysed by using survival analysis. We find lapsing behaviour to be affected mainly by initial PA level as well as to some degree by TR and gender but not by age and household type.