Fitness trackers and smartwatches: Useful health interventions or simply accessories?

MPN editor Laura Hughes looks at the potential role fitness trackers and smartwatches could play within the medical sector.

When I typed the words ‘fitness tracker’ and ‘smartwatch’ into Google, I was immediately inundated with the various types of devices and flooded with articles claiming to tell me which device is the best on the market. Reports suggest that 16% of adults in America now own a smartwatch; but do these devices actually have any value within the medical sector?

The validity of fitness trackers as medical devices was tested in a study conducted by sports reporter, Eric Chemi. He exercised whilst wearing multiple fitness trackers and compared measurements such as distance, heart rate and steps. Chemi found that the results recorded by each device varied considerably. The necessity for such devices was also put into question by the results of a trial published in The Journal of the American Medical Association, which concluded that these devices may not offer any advantages over standard behavioural weight loss approaches.

However, on the other hand in the UK, the NHS could be seen as promoting wearable fitness gadgets, by having a section on its website dedicated to health and fitness trackers. Additionally, the Food and Drug Administration has announced its plans to speed up the approval process for companies such as Apple and Fitbit. I feel this implies the industry’s approval of such devices, conflicting with the conclusions of previously mentioned studies.

Fitbit has announced plans to launch a personal coaching product in 2020 to help users managing chronic conditions like diabetes. Additionally, Apple’s smartwatch has hit the headlines for its fall detection feature which has reportedly saved  the lives of multiple users. The feature works by detecting the user’s fall and location of where the fall took place, and then contacting emergency services as well as the user’s emergency contacts. It seems like the manufacturers of these devices are working hard to increase their value to the user and society.

I find currently published information regarding these devices to be inconsistent. As a user of a fitness tracker myself, there is no doubt in my mind that such devices could play a key role in the improvement of our general health and wellbeing on a recreational level. However, for these trackers to be regarded as trusted medical devices amongst physicians, there must be greater standardisation of this technology to ensure accurate data is consistently collected across all platforms. The end goal would be for physicians to be able to trust fitness trackers and smartwatches to the same extent as current medical device monitors used in professional settings. To achieve this, there needs to be a shift change by the manufacturers to produce devices intended for this purpose.