Wearables, including smartwatches and rings, have gained popularity for monitoring health metrics like steps, sleep, and fitness. They hold potential benefits for healthcare, as noted in the NHS's vision for integrating wearable data. While they can accurately track certain metrics such as heart rate and steps, concerns exist regarding their ability to count calories effectively. Testing of leading devices at a specialized lab highlighted mixed performance in accurately assessing health metrics like basal metabolic rate, suggesting that while wearables are useful, they are not a complete substitute for professional medical assessments.
Wearables are described as devices that range from smartwatches measuring step counts to sophisticated rings analyzing sleep patterns, cardio-respiratory fitness, and stress levels.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting's ten-year vision emphasizes how technology, particularly through the NHS app, can use data from wearables to improve patient monitoring.
Experts acknowledge wearables can accurately track step counts and heart rates, but caution their calorie counting capabilities, which is crucial due to rising obesity rates.
Testing several leading devices at My Vital Metrics revealed varied results in measuring basal metabolic rate and assessing the accuracy of health-related data.
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