A person’s smartwatch can capture a lot of data about their health – and a new study says most folks are willing to share it with doctors.
About 94% of people who wear smartwatches or activity trackers are open to sharing data with their doc if it will improve their health care, researchers report.
In fact, 47% had already discussed their data with a doctor, and 43% had already shared it, according to findings published recently in the journal Healthcare.
“Every day we hear about privacy risks and data breaches, so it’s reasonable to assume that data sharing might raise issues,” senior investigator Ty Ferguson, a research fellow at the University of South Australia, said in a news release.
“But in reality, the opposite is true — people are overwhelmingly willing to share health data from their smartwatches, as long as it’s with trusted health professionals such as doctors or physiotherapists,” he continued. “This was even more prevalent among people with chronic health conditions.”
About 39% of U.S. adults wear a smartwatch, opening up the possibility that doctors could personalize health care by reviewing the data captured by the wrist devices, researchers said in background notes.
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“By sharing personalized health data — such as sleep patterns, physical activity, or heart rate – healthcare providers can gain deeper insights about each patient’s needs, potentially offering smarter, more responsive, and better-quality care,” Ferguson said.
About a third of adults and 4 of 5 teenagers don't meet recommended physical activity guidelines, researchers said. This increases their risk of conditions like stroke, heart disease, type 2 diabetes and obesity.
For the study, researchers surveyed 447 people, of whom 60% lived in the United States, using an online poll. All had used an activity tracker within the past three years.
In all, 26% of device wearers reported any concerns about sharing their data with health care providers.
Privacy was the most often reported concern, cited by 10% of the survey participants.
The results also showed some differences between Americans and Australians polled.
U.S. adults reported fewer privacy concerns than Australians, and Australians were less likely to have shared or discussed their data with a doctor, researchers said.
This data could help doctors address unhealthy lifestyle habits among their patients, lead researcher Kimberley Szeto, a research associate at the University of South Australia, said in a news release.
“Wearable activity trackers are a popular, relatively low-cost tool that help people monitor their daily habits and better understand how this can impact their overall wellbeing,” Szeto said. “If people are open to sharing this information with their health providers, they could potentially receive health support that is specifically targeted to their own condition and health behaviors.”