Could I Be Dependent on This Wearable Device?

A sense of nervous excitement. I can see the frosty air coming from my rivals as they do the "about to run" wiggle on the beginning point.

A swift flick of the hips.

I'm participating in my local weekly parkrun event and I'm focused. Three, two, one...

Oh, hang on. I have to adjust my tracker. So does the person beside me.

The person behind us sighs. I won't start until… yes! Connection established, and I'm running.

During the scramble, it's challenging to spot a person without a smartwatch on it. And this isn't only us participants who rely on them.

We're witnessing a booming, massive market. Names like Samsung Galaxy are prevalent, each with an extensive range of diverse versions to suit a spectrum of lifestyles. According to how feature-packed the device you go for, costs can range from an affordable sum to thousands of pounds.

"It makes me crazy, I'm unable to relax."

"It comforts me… It acts as a friend guiding me."

"Stop telling me I've had a bad night's sleep."

A small sample of the comments I've had from like-minded tracker enthusiasts when I ask what they their opinion is on theirs.

The Data Dilemma

My current opinion on mine? Currently, irritating. It's indicating my speed is wrong, making me wonder whether the foliage I'm running below are interfering with my GPS connection.

A vast number of us strap these compact gadgets onto our arms and keep them on all day and night, apparently unconcerned with the fact they're continuously tracking us.

A distant memory are the days when we used them only to give us an estimation of our step count. Currently, they can measure our nightly rest, heart rate, glucose levels, our VO2 max.

It's tricky to find a health indicator they aren't designed to measure.

But can they do what they claim to do? And are the numbers we obsess over a faithful picture of the truth? Do they improve our overall health, or do the avalanche of readings and constant notifications just increase our everyday anxiety?

A Love-Hate Relationship

"I become a a little fixated with mine," an individual admits.

While she values how her device monitors her workouts, she finds some of its other capabilities "daunting" at times - a feeling initially realised during a major life event.

Prior to discovering she could adjust the settings, her smartwatch repeatedly informed her she was failing to be energetic enough. In a new phase, the watch insists her she's had a poor sleep score.

"I am caring for a young baby, it's unnecessary for me to be told I've not slept," she says. "I'm acutely aware all too clearly."

Couldn't she just take it off?

"It's possible, I suppose, but I'm in this push-pull dynamic with it," she explains. "I value it for its fitness insights, I just wonder whether the myriad other functions it can now do is perhaps excessive for me."

How Do They Work?

Each model of smartwatch has its own novel way of tracking your health metrics and analysing your data, but the most use sensors on the back of the watch.

They typically project tiny, coloured LED lights onto your skin which can detect pulsation, identifying your heartbeat. Higher-end devices analyse changes in the electrical current that passes over the skin to get an idea of your stress levels.

Expert Perspectives

A professor says that in general for smartwatches, it's a "fine balance" - while the ever-evolving tech could realistically save lives, "detecting disease before we notice anything", it could also turn us the tracked into the "concerned but fine".

He points out that the most advanced wearables can carry out tests like medical-grade monitoring, which regularly monitor how normal the heart is. They can notify if someone is experiencing atrial fibrillation (AF), where there is abnormal signals in the heart causing an irregular heartbeat.

This does not mean someone is imminently going to suffer a heart attack, but it can give an preliminary indication they might be more susceptible of a stroke in the years to come.

But how to understand these figures is complex. The expert concerns that as further capabilities are added, people may not be able to fully understand their data.

"I have some doubts that having the capacity to monitor so many metrics is such a beneficial thing," he says.

A health researcher studying wearable tech concurs. A study into the impact of wearable tech on a cohort of cardiovascular patients suggested a minority of those who were given devices to monitor their condition experienced heightened worry and were "far more likely to use medical services".

She observed a pattern with her patients - they spotted a concerning reading on their watch. They grew concerned. Their heart rate increased. They got even more concerned. They re-examined the data, and their heart rate increased again.

"Upon viewing data about ourselves that we don't really understand then, understandably, we are going to seek clarification," the psychologist says. "We check, we re-check - it becomes a vicious cycle."