Buzz
Whether it’s a smartwatch or a ring, more and more people are wearing fitness trackers, accumulating data on movement, sleep patterns, and heart rate fluctuations based on activity levels. This data can serve as a great motivator for staying active and monitoring your health, but it may also be useful for your healthcare provider.
It’s often unclear what all of that health data really signifies, making it difficult to know what to bring up with your doctor. To better understand what fitness tracker data is most helpful for your doctor, we consulted a cardiologist and sleep expert for their insights.
“The algorithms used by different companies and devices vary greatly, so we must approach the data cautiously. However, there’s still valuable information to be derived,” explained Temitayo Oyegbile-Chidi, MD Ph.D., neurologist, sleep expert, and UC Davis faculty member. “While I wouldn’t base diagnoses on [tracker data], it can guide decisions on which tests to conduct.”
Activity trackers can serve as a sleep log
Oyegbile-Chidi frequently recommends that her patients maintain a sleep log, noting when they go to bed and when they wake up. This is where an activity tracker proves useful, as it often tracks this data automatically and its accuracy tends to be higher than what we might jot down manually.
“The key is to track bedtime and wake-up times,” explained Oyegbile-Chidi. “That information is typically reliable and can provide useful insights.” Data from an activity tracker can also help determine how much a person tosses and turns during sleep. “It helps us understand if you tend to wake up frequently and move around or if you’re someone who stays in bed most of the night,” she added. “That can be valuable, too.”
Activity tracker data proves most beneficial when identifying behavioral patterns that may influence overall health, such as sleep times, wake-up times, and any periods of inadequate sleep. “Spotting trends is extremely valuable,” said Oyegbile-Chidi.
Sleep data is also important for cardiologists. “Lack of proper sleep can affect blood pressure and arrhythmias,” noted John Higgins, MD, a cardiologist at McGovern Medical School, UTHealth Houston. Therefore, a consistent record of disrupted sleep can indicate an issue that requires further examination.
The estimates your tracker gives for when you transition into different sleep stages, as well as its evaluation of your overall sleep quality, often lack precision and are not particularly reliable.
Resting heart rate can serve as a useful indicator of your health status
Your tracker’s heart rate data—including resting heart rate, heart rate variability, and heart rate during exercise—provides a broad picture. However, like sleep data, it’s not always entirely accurate, and should be interpreted with caution. Still, tracking long-term trends can offer valuable insights for your doctor.
“Average resting heart rate is a barometer of health for healthy patients,” Higgins said. If you observe a significant shift in your average resting heart rate over time, it may be something worth discussing with your doctor.
For individuals with heart conditions, resting heart rate data can be particularly valuable in determining whether their medications are effective, or if adjustments to their dosage are needed.
Heart rate variability is a key indicator for identifying overtraining or stress levels in your body.
Heart rate variability serves as an important tool for monitoring the impact of stress, lack of sleep, or overtraining during recovery. Unlike the relatively stable resting heart rate, heart rate variability adjusts to more immediate conditions.
For cardiologists, this data proves valuable in tracking patient health. “Heart rate variability trackers may alert you to a worsening heart condition,” said Higgins. Some devices can even detect abnormal heart rhythms, such as atrial fibrillation. If your device detects this, it's important to consult your doctor for further tests.
Discuss any health concerns with your doctor right away.
The information from a fitness tracker can be complex, and while it helps doctors identify certain health trends or guide them in further tests, it should not be relied upon as conclusive evidence. If your smartwatch raises health concerns, it's always best to consult with your doctor. “It’s not necessarily the gospel truth,” noted Oyegbile-Chidi.
