Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, a
<https://9to5mac.com/2021/02/09/apple-watch-study-on-early-covid-19-detectio
n-graduates-to-peer-reviewed-status/> handful of studies have set out to
determine
<https://9to5mac.com/2021/01/16/apple-watch-covid-studies-detection/>
whether wearables such as the Apple Watch can detect early signs and
symptoms of COVID-19. A new paper published today in the journal JAMA
Network Open highlights that wearables like the Apple Watch and Fitbits
could also provide data on the long-term effects of COVID-19.
As reported first by the
<https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/07/health/covid-fitbit-wearables.html> New
York Times, the new data comes from the Digital Engagement and Tracking for
Early Control and Treatment (DETECT) trial run by scientists at the Scripps
Research Translational Institute in California. This study ran from March
25, 2020 through January 24, 2021 and included more than 37,000 people using
Fitbits, Apple Watches, and other wearables. The study was powered by the
MyDataHelps research app.
The researchers first reported in October that combining data from the Apple
Watch and Fitbit with self-reported symptoms led to more accurate detection
of COVID-19 cases than purely focusing on symptoms.
Now, researchers are diving deeper into the data with a focus on the lasting
health effects of COVID-19 - oftentimes referred to as "long COVID." At
first, the researchers are focusing on data from Fitbit users, which shows
that Fitbits can detect lasting changes. "There was a much larger change in
resting heart rate for individuals who had Covid compared to other viral
infections," said Jennifer Radin, an epidemiologist at Scripps. "We also
have a much more drastic change in steps and sleep."
More tidbits include:
The scientists also found that about nine days after participants with Covid
first began reporting symptoms, their heart rates dropped. After this dip,
which was not observed in those with other illnesses, their heart rates rose
again and remained elevated for months. It took 79 days, on average, for
their resting heart rates to return to normal, compared with just four days
for those in the non-Covid group.
Sleep and physical activity levels also returned to baseline more slowly in
those with Covid-19 compared to those with other ailments, Dr. Radin and her
colleagues found.
The researchers identified a small subset of people with Covid whose heart
rates remained more than five beats per minute above normal one to two
months after infection. Nearly 14 percent of those with the disease fell
into this category, and their heart rates did not return to normal for more
than 133 days, on average.
While this subset of research focuses on Fitbit data, Dr. Radin says that
more research like this is planned for the future.
"We want to kind of do a better job of collecting long-term symptoms so we
can compare the physiological changes that we're seeing with symptoms that
participants are actually experiencing," Dr. Radin said. "So this is really
a preliminary study that opens up many other studies down the road."
You can find the full paper in the
<http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/10.1001/jamanet
workopen.2021.15959> JAMA Network Open journal and read more at the
<https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/07/health/covid-fitbit-wearables.html> New
York Times.
By <https://9to5mac.com/author/chmiller44/> Chance Miller at:
https://9to5mac.com/2021/07/07/apple-watch-long-covid-effects/
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