Sales for all smartwatches, not just Apple Watches, went up 61 percent in 2018. People were using the devices to monitor their health — tracking their heart rate, their steps, and their sleep. And gradually, more and more of them started to bring that information along to their doctors appointments.
The permeation through healthcare is particularly noticeable in three areas: cardiology, sleep medicine, and sports medicine. Smartwatches made by Apple, Fitbit, Withings, Samsung, and other companies have features specific to each of those fields, and over the past decade, the devices became impossible for doctors to ignore.
CARDIOLOGY: Wearable devices like the Apple Watch and Fitbits, which also have an electrocardiogram feature, make it easier for doctors to monitor patients at home. They also let patients be more engaged in their own care. But there are downsides to the influx of wearable data- false positive apple watch readings cause anxiety for the patient.
SPORTS AND FITNESS: There's no clear sign that the training and fitness information collected on a smartwatch or wearable devices can help people reach their goals faster or more effectively. Focusing on that information might actually make things worse.
SLEEP MEDICINE: Devices offer more objective information than a sleep log, which doctors often ask patients to keep before a visit to capture their sleep patterns. But while sleep tracking features on wearables have improved over the years, they're still not accurate enough to rely on entirely.
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