Apple launches study to better understand how tech can identify changes in health
Today Apple has announced the start of a new health study, which aims to understand how technology (namely, iPhones, Apple Watches, and AirPods) can "play a role in advancing and improving physical health, mental health, and overall wellbeing", the company says.
The study is now available in Apple's Research app for participants who live in the US and meet minimum age requirements. It will also "explore relationships between various areas of health, such as mental health's impact on heart rate, or how sleep can influence exercise". The study is being conducted in collaboration with Brigham and Women's Hospital, a leading research hospital and a "major teaching affiliate" of Harvard Medical School.
This study builds on learnings from the Apple Women's Health Study, the Apple Hearing Study, and the Apple Heart and Movement Study, which combined have more than 350,000 participants across the US.
The new longitudinal virtual study aims to understand how data from Apple devices can be used to predict, monitor, and manage changes in participants' health. Researchers will also explore connections across different areas of health. The study will span across activity, aging, cardiovascular health, circulatory health, cognition, hearing, menstrual health, mental health, metabolic health, mobility, neurologic health, respiratory health, and sleep.
Apple says the study is designed to explore how technology can help identify changes in a person's health - when changes occur, your body can "emit a signal, either physically or emotionally". Changes in health can affect one or more parts of the body, and others may affect wellbeing overall, so helping identify any changes earlier can help offer "a more proactive approach to health". For example, "early detection of a change in hearing health could reduce the risk for cognitive decline".