In Apple watch ad, the one of the protagonists is shown taking the electrocardiogram on the watch while riding the bus or working at office and even hanging out at kids pool party. The Apple watch is so powerful that you can run the advanced medical tests anywhere in seconds. The smart watches and fitness trackers have made the health insights more accessible than ever, they motivated many to adopt fitter lifestyles but their rise has come at a cost.
The clinical health psychologists have observed the growing number of patients with concerns regarding the information they receive from their smart watches. The example is a women suffering from the atrial fibrillation, performed a staggering 916 ECGs on her watch single year.
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The smart watch data led to no alterations, but the women is suffering from health anxiety and there is the negative impact on her mental health relationships and quality of life. The important thing is that the latest wearable are capable of detecting various health issues and there is no match for the professional health care devices. The patients who are already diagnosed with the unpredictable health disorder the fear and uncertainty is even more acute.
Another study evaluated that the wearable experience among over 2 dozen chronic health patients and reached similar results. Some patients reported that the constant nudges from the smart watches and fitness trackers that motivated to engage them in self care but others said that it is source of stress.
So in order to prevent the smart watch induced anxiety, experts believes that there is no need for the greater collaboration between manufacturers and medical organizations. There is need the education to understand the mountains of data their wearable are gathering and to know or to contact with the health care professional. These smart watches have saved lives but they gain more professional medical abilities and their makers to have to be more aware of how people might perceive and utilize them. There is more work to be done to provide the important contextual information to patients, to prevent anxiety and potentially unnecessary health care utilization.
