Vital Signs app on Apple Watch: Can you predict illness?

The new vital signs app (aka “Vitals”), which came to the Apple Watch with watchOS 11, could help detect illnesses in advance. At least that’s what users report on Reddit, among others. It says, for example, that the application reported signs of a cold up to three days before the actual symptoms.

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However, how often this actually happens accurately is unclear. The tool records standard values ​​that the computer clock has been collecting for years at night and then brings them together. If there are so-called deviating values ​​(“outlier”), the user will be informed about this.

After a few days the app will be ready

The Apple Watch does not work with individual measurement data, but with the overall picture. After a total of 7 days, while the man keeps the watch on while sleeping, you can see what values ​​are “normal” for the individual user. If there are changes, a warning appears, otherwise the vital signs app only shows that the values ​​are “typical”. That alone seems to be enough to possibly detect emerging diseases.

The application combines heart and breathing rate, wrist temperature (from Series 8 / Ultra), sleep duration and blood oxygen (from Series 6, currently not in the USA). The vital signs app does not make a diagnosis; instead, detected deviations should lead to medical advice being sought – if repeated several times. Information about the “nighttime vital signs” can be viewed on the computer clock itself as well as (more clearly) in the health app Health on the iPhone. You can also access historical data on the latter. The app knows “high”, “typical” and “low” ranges for the individual values.

The Apple Watch is not a medical device

As usual, users should be clear that a computer watch like the Apple Watch is not a medical device – even if Apple usually has the measured values ​​verified in studies. This applied, for example, to the new sleep apnea detection feature, which has been officially activated for a few weeks from Series 9 and Ultra 2 onwards. Here too, the watch only warns and is not recognized; A real check of the condition must then be carried out by a qualified doctor (or here: a sleep laboratory).

Nevertheless, predictions such as the vital signs app can be helpful in making lifestyle adjustments if you notice that an illness could occur. The idea that sports and vital signs trackers can be used for early detection is not new: The fitness band provider Whoop has already shown that it is possible to detect COVID-19 illness several days before the outbreak via heart rate variability.

(BSC)