Even though manufacturers warn us, we take very seriously the metrics that our smartwatch or ‘band’ manages to obtain, both of our physical performance and of other aspects of health: sleep, heart rate, and even heart disease with the electrocardiogram that some smart watches include.
Now, a comprehensive study has analyzed data from wearable devices and draws conclusions that, while not surprising, serve as a lesson for us to keep in mind. They are not medical equipment.This is what it dictates and what we can extract from it.
No, your sleep has not been as pleasant as the clock says.
Wearables are an important source of information regarding our health and physical exercise. However, we must remember that they are intended to guide the user, never to provide millimetric or precise information. medical characterWe knew it and sometimes we forgot.
Now, a recently published study points to the Limitations in health and fitness tracking statisticsproviding an important reminder.
As we read in the post, it’s not all bad news: there are positive aspects. This review found that most of the devices analyzed can measure our heart rate with quite accurate: 3% regarding medical equipment.
In addition, they are able to record frequency variability in a reliable manner, including potential signs of disturbances such as arrhythmia. On the other hand, They also meet their estimates of cardiorespiratory fitnesscommonly referred to as VO2 Max.
On the other side of the scale, other ones have been found much less precise aspects: for example, the calculation of calories burned. Approximately, there is an inaccuracy that ranges between 15 and 21%. Calorie burning is important for users who control their weight and having incorrect data could lead to wrong decisions.
There is more to be said: sleep time and efficiency vary by more than 10%; sleep latency (the time elapsed between the moment the light is turned off until the first epoch of any sleep phase) up to 180%These data have been obtained by comparing different wearables with polysomnography.
As confirmed by the data extracted from the cited study, the information provided by “wearable” devices such as watches and activity bracelets must be analyzed with caution: it is advisable to take it as general orientationnot as exact and concrete data.
This is the important reminder that it leaves us with. Even though companies claim to be refining their capabilities, the truth is that they still have a lot of room for improvement. However, if used with caution, they are an unmissable advance: it is not in vain that they have managed to save lives.
More information | SpringerLink
Cover image | Ricardo Aguilar for Xataka