Tech and health focal point of Apple study

Abstract: Apple is collaborating with Brigham and Women’s Hospital in a unique study that will be conducted through the Research app available for download on any iPhone or Apple Watch. The goal, a release from Apple states, is to “understand how data from technology – including Apple and third-party devices – can be used to predict, detect, monitor, and manage changes in participants’ health. Additionally, researchers will explore connections across different areas of health.”

Apple, in collaboration with Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH), has launched the Apple Health Study, which it said aims to further how technology – including  iPhone, Apple Watch and AirPods – can “play a role in advancing and improving physical health, mental health and overall wellbeing.”

Available in the Research app, which allows Apple users to participate, this particular study, according to a release, will also explore relationships between “various areas of health, such as mental health’s impact on heart rate, or how sleep can influence exercise.” It is being conducted in collaboration with BWH, a 793-bed teaching hospital that is part of Harvard Medical School.

Calum MacRae, principal investigator of the Apple Health Study, said “we have only just begun to scratch the surface of how technology can improve our understanding of human health, adding that the study will explore connections across different areas of health using technology that so many people carry with them every day.”

Researchers will delve into how data from technology – including Apple and third-party devices – can be used to predict, detect, monitor, and manage changes in participants’ health. Additionally, they also plan to focus in on connections across different areas of health.”

Health and disease areas to be studied include activity, aging, cardiovascular health, circulatory health, cognition, hearing, menstrual health, mental health, metabolic health, mobility, neurologic health, respiratory health and sleep.

The overall goal, the Apple release states, is to “explore changes in health and how technology can help identify important insights for future product development. When one aspect of a person’s health changes, their 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 to identify these 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.”

The key to its success revolves around the Research app: “Until now, conducting large-scale health studies has been time-consuming and expensive,” says Apple. “Multiple factors have also limited the diversity of participants in research.

“Devices like Apple Watch and iPhone are changing this dynamic, leading to expansive studies with increased inclusion. With your permission, meaningful health information can be captured, including signals from your heart, your level of motion and activity, and your sound exposure levels throughout the day.”

With currently 350,000 participants in the U.S. currently contributing to various studies, any data collected through the app is encrypted and stored in a secure system within Apple that it says is “designed to meet the technical safeguard requirements of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. Apple will not have access to any contact information or other identifying data that you provide through the Research app. And you can withdraw from any study at any time, ending any future data collection.”

Other areas of research currently underway through the app include a study with the University of Michigan that is examining “how hearing could be impacted over time by exposure to sound at certain levels. Researchers have already collected exposure data from 400 million hours of environmental sounds and supplemented this research with lifestyle surveys to analyze how sound exposure affects hearing, stress levels, and cardiovascular health.”