Research is expanding into whether wearable devices such as an Apple
Watch or Fitbit could track a person with coronavirus or the flu, or
perhaps detect and even predict the onset of disease in a wearer.
The potential for such data-driven advances could be reassuring as
the nation reopens after the shutdown to prevent the spread of the
virus, which causes the COVID-19 disease. More than 1 in 5 Americans
(21%) already wear some type of smartwatch or fitness tracker, according
to Pew Research Center.
Fitbit has announced its own Fitbit COVID-19 Study to “help determine
whether Fitbit can help build an algorithm to detect COVID-19 before
symptoms start,” the company says in a recent blog post. It is seeking
participants who are 21 or older and have had or currently have COVID-19
or flu-related symptoms.
Fitbit, along with Apple, is also collaborating with the Stanford
Healthcare Innovation Lab on its COVID-19 Wearables Study. “We hope to
be able to predict the onset even before any symptoms start,” the
researchers say on the Stanford study’s signup page.
The Stanford lab is looking for people who use a wearable
and have had a confirmed or suspected case of coronavirus, been exposed
to a known or suspected case or are among frontline essential personnel
such as health care workers or grocery store workers.
In addition to Apple Watch and Fitbit wearables, the lab is also
seeking wearers of Empatica and Garmin devices, Oura Ring, and other
wearables that measure heart rate. (The study plans to have Android
support for its MyPHD app so Galaxy Fit and Galaxy Watch devices can be
used more easily. Currently, those devices must connect the Samsung
Health app to Apple Health.)
Also already underway is the Scripps Research Translational
Institute’s DETECT (Digital Engagement & Tracking for Early Control
& Treatment) Study to monitor heart rates as a possible way to
detect and track coronavirus, flu and other viral infections. As in the
other studies, users share the health data captured by the Apple Watch,
Fitbit and Garmin devices. For more information on the study, go to the
DETECTStudy.org site.
Earlier this year, Scripps’ first study on using wearable device data to study flu outbreaks was referenced in The Lancet as “encouraging proof of concept in this direction.”
Scripps researchers expanded the flu study to see if tracking of data
(heart rate, activity, and sleep) using the MyDataHelps mobile app can
help predict whether someone will eventually get the flu, COVID-19 or
other illness.
“In light of the ongoing flu season and the global pandemic of
COVID-19, we see enormous opportunity to improve disease tracking for
improved population health,” says Jennifer Radin, Ph.D., the
epidemiologist leading the DETECT study.
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