Two new studies, highlighted in a CBS News report, show that smartwatches like the Apple Watch can help detect COVID-19 early.
The studies, conducted separately by the Mount Sinai Health System in New York and Stanford University in California, give experts hope that the Apple Watch can help "play a critical role in containing the pandemic and other communicable diseases." The research conducted by Mount Sinai found that the Apple Watch is capable of detecting "subtle changes in a person's heartbeat" up to seven days before the onset of COVID-19 symptoms or a positive test.
“Apple Watch does not require active user input”
The study analyzed heart rate variability, or the variation in the time between heartbeats, and included nearly 300 healthcare workers who wore Apple Watches between April 29 and September 29. This is a commonly used measure of how well a person’s immune system is working – according to the report. It states:
Our goal was to use tools to identify infections at the time of infection or before people knew they were sick,” said Rob Hirten, assistant professor of medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City and author of the Warrior Watch study.
We already knew that markers of heart rate variability change when inflammation develops in the body, and COVID is an incredibly inflammatory event. It allows us to predict that people are infected before they know it.
Right now we rely on people to say they're sick and not feeling well, but wearing an Apple Watch doesn't require active user input and can identify people who may be asymptomatic. That's one way to better control infectious diseases, Hirten said.
“Nearly two-thirds of COVID-19 cases identified four to seven days before symptoms”
Meanwhile, a separate study from Stanford, the results of which were published in November, involved activity trackers from Garmin, Fitbit, and Apple. The study found that these devices were able to indicate changes in resting heart rate "up to nine and a half days before the onset of symptoms" in coronavirus-positive patients. Researchers were able to identify nearly two-thirds of COVID-19 cases four to seven days before symptoms appeared, according to the study.
The team has also developed an alarm system that alerts wearers when their heart rate is elevated for an extended period of time.
"We set the alarm at a certain sensitivity so that it goes off about every two months," said Michael Snyder, a professor at Stanford University who led the study. Regular fluctuations don't set off the alarm - only significant, sustained changes do.
It's a big deal because it warns people not to go out and meet people, Snyder added. When Snyder's alarm went off recently, for example, he canceled an in-person meeting in case he might be contagious.
Apple did not fund or participate in any of the studies
The professor further explained that this type of technology can help compensate for flaws in testing strategies. "The problem is that you can't constantly test people, whereas these devices measure you 24/7." Apple itself did not fund or participate in any of these studies, unlike other smartwatch and wearable companies that have commissioned similar studies, such as Oura Health and Whoop. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published a model last week showing how the Apple Watch and other smartwatches can help contain the spread of COVID-19 by asymptomatic wearers. Don't have an Apple Watch yet? Check out our Amazon Storefront There you will find some of the Apple Watch Series 3, 4, 5, 6 and SE models and more. (Photo by New Africa / Bigstockphoto)
