An increasing number of patients are arriving at their doctor’s surgery with health data from a smartwatch or information they have found on social media or the internet. Two new studies from the Yale School of Medicine show that wearables and online health information are playing an ever-greater role in the consultation room. This offers opportunities for more engaged patients, but also presents new challenges for healthcare providers. The studies have been published in JAMA Network Open and JAMA.
According to the researchers, the relationship between doctor and patient is increasingly shifting from a one-way communication to a dialogue. Patients are not only bringing questions with them, but also their own measurement data and information they have gathered themselves. This is increasing the need for healthcare professionals who can interpret this data and integrate it responsibly into treatment.
Strong growth in wearable use
Smartwatches, smart rings and other wearables have been used for years to monitor, amongst other things, heart rate, sleep, physical activity and diet. These devices provide continuous data on users’ health, rather than just information gathered during a visit to a GP or specialist. A survey of over 17,000 American adults shows that the use of wearables has risen from around 30 per cent in 2020 to 41 per cent in 2024. Most users say they are willing to share the collected data with their doctor. In practice, however, this only happens for a small proportion of patients.
According to the researchers, this is mainly because healthcare organisations are not yet sufficiently equipped to process patient-generated data. Clinical workflows and the lack of standardised procedures make it difficult for healthcare providers to easily receive and use data from wearables during treatment. The researchers emphasise that the potential of this technology can only be fully realised when health data can be easily collected, integrated and interpreted within existing healthcare processes.
Social media influences medical decisions
In a second study, the researchers analysed the use of health information on social media among more than 7,000 American adults. The findings show that one in five social media users has made a decision about their health based on information seen online. Strikingly, the majority of respondents also stated that they do not fully trust health information on social media. According to the researchers, this shows that information can influence people, even when they are aware of the risk of inaccurate or misleading posts.
Furthermore, it appears that whilst older adults use social media less frequently than younger groups, they are actually more likely to report that online information has influenced their health choices. According to the researchers, this underlines the fact that the level of exposure to social media is not automatically linked to the influence that this information ultimately has.
A new role for healthcare professionals
The researchers do not view social media solely as a source of misinformation. The platforms can also provide insight into the health concerns held by patients and highlight where knowledge is lacking. This can offer starting points for better health communication. According to the researchers, both wearables and social media are changing the dynamics of the consultation. Whereas medical information used to flow mainly from doctor to patient, patients now bring their own data, insights and questions with them to the consultation room.
This also increases the need for healthcare professionals to assess the value of patient-generated data and to guide patients in interpreting online health information. The researchers conclude that healthcare organisations will need to adapt their working methods to make the best use of these new sources of information whilst minimising the risks of misinformation.
Wearable measurements not always reliable
The growing use of wearables offers new opportunities for personalised care, but interpreting the data collected remains a challenge. Research conducted last year by Leiden University among nearly eight hundred smartwatch users shows that measurements of mental states, such as stress, often do not correspond to how users actually feel. The researchers compared smartwatch data with self-reports completed by participants four times a day and found only limited correlations, particularly in stress measurements.
According to the researchers, wearables lack crucial context: an elevated heart rate, for example, can be caused by either stress or enthusiasm. They therefore believe it is misleading to regard wearable data as entirely objective. Within the WARN-D research programme, they emphasise that data from wearables is valuable, but must always be combined with self-reports. Only this combination provides a more reliable and complete picture of a person’s mental health.
