How Useful Is Wearable Health Data? A GP Explains
Smartwatches are now collecting more health data than ever before. From heart rate and blood oxygen levels to sleep quality and daily activity, many people now arrive at their GP appointment armed with graphs, notifications and health scores.
However, how useful is this information in a clinical setting? Can wearable devices help identify health problems earlier, or do they sometimes create unnecessary worry? Here’s what Founder of Hannah London Clinic, Dr Kaywaan Khan has to say about them.
Are Wearable Health Devices Useful for GP Appointments?
Wearable health data can be genuinely useful in GP consultations, though it really depends on what information is being presented and whether it reflects a real change in the patient’s health. The challenge is that whilst people receive plenty of data on their phones, many apps create their own interpretation of what the readings mean. A sleep app might give someone a sleep score or an indication of how energised they’ll feel during the day, but this isn’t typically what patients bring to their GP.
What I see more commonly is data showing heart rate or oxygen saturation. These readings can be helpful because they may demonstrate that something has changed before a patient develops more obvious symptoms. The information doesn’t provide a diagnosis on its own, but it can sometimes act as an early indicator that something isn’t quite right. It also helps me understand what was happening outside the consultation room.
Which Wearable Health Data Is Less Useful?
The scores created by apps themselves are often less useful than the underlying health data. A sleep score or readiness score might tell someone how rested the app believes they are, but it doesn’t necessarily tell a doctor whether there’s a medical problem. These scores are based on the technology company’s own interpretation of the information collected by the device, and I may not know exactly how the score has been calculated or how much clinical significance should be attached to it.
This information can still help people become more conscious of their sleep or daily movement. However, it may not provide much useful clinical information when there are no symptoms and no clear change from the person’s normal pattern.
When Can Wearable Health Data Help Identify a Medical Problem?
Oxygen saturation readings can be particularly useful for people with asthma or chest infections. During COVID, people became much more aware of using oxygen sensors to measure the percentage of oxygen in their blood. Some patients with asthma or a chest infection may notice that their oxygen levels have dropped and then attend hospital with the notification to show the nurse. Being able to demonstrate that oxygen saturation has fallen may mean they’re assessed more urgently or fast-tracked through A&E.
Heart rate is another common example. Devices such as an Apple Watch may warn someone that their heart rate has increased whilst they’re at rest. A fast heart rate can occur during an infection or may increase because of pain or stress, so the reading doesn’t necessarily mean the person has a heart condition. However, a persistent change can sometimes be an early indicator of a developing infection or an arrhythmia. In more serious circumstances, it may be one of the first signs that someone needs further assessment.
A patient might notice that their heart rate has remained unusually fast for 24 hours despite no change in their routine. They may not feel particularly unwell, but they know the reading is abnormal for them and it’s making them uncomfortable. That may prompt them to visit their GP, where I can investigate whether something is developing before more obvious symptoms appear.
What Wearable Data Do Doctors Actually Want to See?
In my private clinic, there are situations where I actively ask patients to show me data from their devices. This is particularly useful when the aim is to understand their wider health or help them make sustainable changes. I may ask to see their step count so I can understand how active they are during a normal day. I may also look at changes in their blood pressure if they’ve been monitoring it at home.
Sleep data can be relevant when I’m trying to optimise someone’s general health or support them with weight management. In this setting, the data isn’t being used to diagnose a condition on its own. It helps provide a fuller picture of what’s happening in the patient’s everyday life and where changes may be helpful.
How to Share Wearable Health Data with Your GP
Wearable data is most helpful when it shows a meaningful change from the patient’s normal pattern. A persistent increase in resting heart rate, for example, is generally more useful than an isolated reading taken without any context. Patients don’t need to present every measurement collected by the device. It’s usually more helpful to show the relevant section of the app and explain what changed at the time.
The patient should also explain whether they experienced any symptoms and whether there was anything unusual happening that day. This allows me to consider the reading as part of the wider clinical picture rather than interpreting the number in isolation.
Can Health Trackers Cause Unnecessary Anxiety?
The main risk is that people can become anxious or overly preoccupied with every change in their data. I already see patients who are very health-conscious or experience health anxiety, and for those people, having constant access to data can make them worry about normal fluctuations that may have a simple explanation.
A raised heart rate does not automatically mean that somebody has a heart condition. It may rise during an infection or in response to stress. The reading tells us that something has changed, but it does not tell us why.
Patients may also begin to treat the app’s interpretation as a diagnosis. Wearable data should instead be viewed as an additional clue. The GP still needs to understand what the patient is experiencing and assess the wider clinical picture before deciding whether any investigation is required.
Overall, collecting this type of information is relatively low risk and can sometimes be genuinely useful. The difficulty arises when somebody monitors every available metric despite feeling well, as the volume of information may increase anxiety without providing any meaningful clinical insight.
Curious about how wearable health data is changing conversations with your doctor? Read Dr Kaywaan Khan’s expert insights in Stylist here: https://www.stylist.co.uk/health/health-data-gp-fertility-menstrual-cycles/1099571
