Wearable technology used during exercise has been shown to be effective in screening for illnesses, like COVID.
A new University of South Australia study has revealed that activity trackers showed promise in detecting early signals of disease, particularly atrial fibrillation, associated with stroke, and COVID-19.
Lead researcher Dr Ben Singh said wearable devices could revolutionise the detection of medical conditions and disease.
Dr Singh said researchers assessed the reliability and accuracy of consumer-grade wearable activity trackers to detect and monitor a wide range of medical conditions and events.
He said they analysed 28 studies with 1.2 million participants and found that wearable technology could correctly identify:
- COVID-19 status (positive or negative) in 88 out of 100 people, similar to rapid screening tests.
- Atrial fibrillation in 87 out of 100 people, akin to tests undertaken by doctors.
- Falls in 82 of 100 people.
“Originally designed to track fitness and exercise performance, wearable technology has advanced beyond activity metrics and is now able to deliver accurate and timely measures of blood pressure, heart rate, oxygen levels, sleep quality, skin temperature, hydration, stress levels and more.”
Dr Singh said as healthcare budgets continued to soar, the need for cost-effective interventions that reduced healthcare costs and improved patient outcomes had never been more urgent.
“Our systematic review shows that wearable activity trackers like Fitbits and Apple Watches have significant promise in detecting COVID-19 and heart conditions in real-world settings, which has the potential to improve personal health monitoring,” he said.
“Wearable trackers not only empower people to proactively manage their health, but they enable them to detect health issues in real-time. This means that they can respond to any concern quickly, and hopefully avoid any serious health issues.”
Co-researcher Professor Carol Maher said there was scope for expansion and improvement.
“The beauty of wearable activity trackers is that they provide an easy and convenient way for people to monitor real-time aspects of their health and wellbeing, but their full potential is yet to be realised,” Professor Maher said.
“Wearable trackers are providing some excellent health data, but their application must encompass a greater number of health conditions and demonstrate greater results across diverse populations before they can be considered for clinical practice.”
