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Can Your Smartwatch Make You Sick?
Lately, I’ve started wondering if I should get a smartwatch. Friends of mine routinely take calls or texts on their Apple® or Google® watches. Others track their steps or monitor their hearts. Paying for a coffee with a smartwatch looks so easy. And yes, some designs look terrific.
Over a quarter of Americans use a smartwatch or other digital wearables, and sales are predicted to grow by 16% this year. And thanks to AI-enabled apps, smartwatches are increasingly intelligent. You can get directions globally, translate languages, open doors, and monitor security cameras.
But is all of this a good thing? Looking beyond their benefits, smartwatches are raising health-related concerns among users and healthcare professionals. Here are some of the issues:
Health Anxiety. For some people, smartwatch data can heighten anxiety or obsessive behavior about their health. The pressure to meet fitness or heart rate goals can become highly stressful. This raises mental health questions about being perpetually connected to health metrics.
Questionable Health Metrics. Inaccuracies in smartwatches can lead to misinterpreting one’s health status. An erroneous heart rate measurement could prompt unnecessary anxiety. Most wearables measure steps accurately, but heart rate measurements are more variable. No smartwatch was accurate for energy expenditure.
Digital Fatigue. Research suggests that smartwatches can be more distracting than cell phones. Notifications and alerts from smartwatches can lead to “notification fatigue,” where users are overwhelmed by constant alerts. Because smartphones are worn on the wrist, they may encourage more frequent and often distracting attention than cell phones.
Increased Road Distraction. Smartwatches are more distracting than mobile phones for drivers. Eye-tracking studies show drivers glance more frequently at their smartwatches than larger cell phones. And while most states forbid talking or texting on a cell phone while driving, smartwatches are not yet prohibited.
Can’t Detect Heart Attacks. Smartwatches are not approved to diagnose heart attacks. A handful of smartwatches have FDA approval to detect an irregular heart rhythm, but if someone has chest pains and their smartwatch shows a regular heart rate, they need immediate medical care.
Extra Eye Strain. Prolonged use of smartwatches can exacerbate eye strain compared to cell phones. The smaller screens and screen resolution can lead to squinting and eye strain when reading text or viewing images.
To Buy or Not to Buy?
As attractive as smartwatches are, they raise questions for me. Do I want to be connected to the world on my wrist? Do I want my health monitored constantly? Do I want one more device that needs battery recharging? For now, I’ve decided to hold off. But I suspect the attraction will grow as AI becomes more integrated into the watches. And by then, many of the health concerns about smartwatches may be long gone.
About The Council for Disability Awareness
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