COVID-19 surveillance based on consumer wearable devices

Background Consumer wearable devices such as wristbands and smartwatches have potential application value in communicable disease surveillance. Objective We investigated the ability of wearable devices to monitor COVID-19 patients of varying severity. Methods COVID-19 patients with mobile phones supporting wearable device applications were selected from Dalian Sixth People Hospital. Physiological parameters from the wearable devices and electronic questionnaires were collected from the device wearing until 14 days post-discharge. Clinical information during hospitalization was also recorded. Based on imaging data, the patients were categorized into the milder group without pneumonia and the more severe group with pneumonia. We plotted the curves of the physiological parameters of the two groups to compare the differences and changes. Results Ninety-eight patients were included in the analysis. The mean age was 39.6 ± 10.5 years, including 45 males (45.9%). There were 24 asymptomatic patients, 10 mild patients, 60 moderate patients, and 4 severe patients. Compared with the milder group, the more severe group had higher heart rate-related parameters, while the heart rate variability (HRV) was the opposite. In the more severe group, the heart rate-related parameters showed a downward trend from 0 to 7 days after the fever resolution. Among them, the resting heart rate and sleep heart rate decreased on the 25th day after the onset and were close to the milder group 1 week after discharge. Conclusions Consumer wearable devices have the potential to monitor respiratory infections. Heart rate-related parameters obtained from these devices can be sensitive indicators of COVID-19 severity and correlate with disease evolution. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04459637.