Wearable technologies could help detect covid-19 symptoms earlier than traditional methods of diagnosis, research suggests. The new study from the US highlights the advantages of such devices when it comes to meeting health needs during a pandemic.
Researchers at the Mount Sinai Hospital found that wearables like the Apple Watch were able to identify cases of covid-19 earlier than traditional diagnostic methods. The news may sound surprising, but the findings are based on a scientific study involving several hundred participants—namely health care workers recruited throughout the Mount Sinai Health System.
The study was conducted between 2020 April and 2020 September, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Each participant wore an Apple Watch and answered daily questions via a customized app. The researchers studied changes in participants' heart rate variability (HRV) to identify and predict whether they were infected with or suffering symptoms of covid-19. They also collected other daily symptoms such as fever or chills, tiredness or weakness, body aches, dry cough, sneezing, runny nose, diarrhoea, sore throat, headache, shortness of breath, loss of smell or taste, and itchy eyes.