Wearables, Physical Activity, and Exercise Testing in Liver Disease

Physical inactivity is a major cause of deterioration in all forms of advanced liver disease. It is especially important as a driver of the components of the metabolic syndrome, with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease rapidly becoming the dominant cause of liver-related death worldwide. Growing realization of the health benefits of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity has captured the interest of persons who desire to improve their health, including those at risk for chronic liver injury. They are increasingly adopting wearable activity trackers to measure the activity that they seek to improve. Improved physical activity is the key lifestyle behavior that can improve cardiorespiratory fitness, which is most accurately measured with cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET). CPET is showing promise to identify risk and predict outcomes in transplant hepatology. Team effort among engaged patients, social support networks, and clinicians supported by web-based connectivity is needed to fully exploit the benefits of physical activity tracking.