Table 2.

Patient’s perspectives and quotes

Perceived helpfulness of the Fitbit
Helpful with physical activity (n=23)	“To be honest, the Fitbit and the steps… I’d say, jeez, I did 20 000 today, let’s get 25 000 and that’s usually getting out walking the dogs”.
Not helpful with physical activity (n=7)	“It was interesting to see but I don’t know that it helped me. It didn’t help me plan for anything and it didn’t help me do more than I would have anyway, but I loved looking at it”.
Helpful to others but not self (n=4)	“I know when I’m active and when I’m not. I know what triggers it. Was it helpful for other people? For sure”.
Positives of the Fitbit
Awareness (n=27)	“You know if I looked and saw 6000 steps and it was the middle of the afternoon, I’m thinking, you better get going. Or if it was worse, if it was 2000 steps, okay you’ve been a lump all day, go out and do something”.
Peer motivation (n=3)	“I was trying to get to the top, trying to beat the guy at the top. That was the only reason I was doing it”.
Goal setting (n=5)	“Well it motivated to move just a little bit more. If I was really close to my goal, and it helped me see during the day if I needed to walk more or move more steps to get to my goal. So it just motivated me”.
Enjoyment (n=13)	“I actually enjoyed looking at it, through the day, when I was at home I would be out walking my dog at night and I’d take it out and take a peek”.
Negatives of the Fitbit
Inconvenient (n=12)	“I think it was great. I thought that the cuff they supplied, that you put on and you put it into a compartment… it didn’t work. Everyone had trouble with it”.
Inaccurate (n=11)	“It’s supposed to count steps – well I did a lot more steps than that thing actually counted. I was walking up and down stairs and it barely counted any of that. Like finally I just stopped even looking at it, and couldn’t care less about it”.
Discouraging (n=2)	“It wasn’t a tool for me. It wasn’t a motivator for me at all. It just reinforced how much I wasn’t doing”.
Disinterest (n=10)	“Sometimes I say, I knew I didn’t’ do it. So I got to do it. I tell myself, sometimes I say - Oh I don’t need that thing to tell me what to do”.
Plans for continued use
Plans to continue (n=14)	“I plan to get a Fitbit or some similar activity monitor”.
No plans to continue (n=3)	“I probably would have bought it but I didn’t have the money at that time”.
Undecided (n=2)	“Possibly”.