Prevention is divided in four levels: Primordial, Primary, Secundary, Tertiary and Quaternary. For the purpose of this post I will focus on primary and is defined as:
Primary prevention seeks to prevent the onset of specific diseases via risk reduction by altering behaviors or exposures that can lead to disease or by enhancing resistance to the effects of exposure to a disease agent. (Pandve, 2014)
As an example of this level of prevention you have the individual that engage in a regular physical activity to reduce the risk of developing chronic diseases like heart failure, stroke, etc.
Wearables consists in technological devices that can be worn to monitor activity (or fitness data) and health indicators. Some market reports estimate that the global market of this will grow at an annual rate of 35% over the next 5 years, reaching 148 million units (2019), up from 33 million units (2015), according with Business Insider.
So it’s expected to see some level of massification in the use and adoption of this recent technology over the next years. Is estimated that more than 6,7% of the population in the developed markets (by the end of 2018) will own a quantified self device.
Returning to the topic of the disease prevention, wearables have the potential to be a tool for primary prevention, because:
1 – They are easy of use:
Last models are very light and easy to worn in your wrist, and you don’t feel it at all, you have, for example, the Jawbone:
You will not have excuses for not using it!
2 – Battery life is superb:
Some devices can have an autonomy that can reach more than one month, like MiBand, from Xiaomi:
This means that will not have the problem of an everyday recharge procedure, minimizing the “workload” with the technology and reducing the non-adherence to new technology.
3 – They provide real-time feedback:
You can see if you are improving or not in a particular fitness/health data. You have notifications that work like reminders. Some studies have show that feedback and self-monitoring can lead to an increase in physical activity and weight loss. For example, the app from MiBand gives you, among others, the number of steps, the distance and calories burn:
4 – You can set goals:
According to the American College of Sports Medicine, individuals with low levels of physical activity that increase their average daily steps by 2,000 steps per day, benefit their health, especially when they reach a total of 7,000 or more, per day. They also have set target for individuals with chronic diseases, because they could benefit from moderate activity and that could contribute for a total daily step count of 4500-7000 per day. If you have chronic disease, please talk about exercise with your doctor before starting any physical activity, even in a moderate level. Again, as an example, MiBand app can give you the personalized target (see target dash line):
5 – Track your sleep:
Your sleep is very important for your health. A study from the West Virginia University School of Medicine showed that sleeping more or less than 7h is associated with cardiovascular disease. The MiBand app allow us to track total sleep duration and distinguish between light sleep and deep sleep:
But, attention: They don’t measure sleep, just motion: not your brain waves, your muscle tone and your heart rate or even eye movement, that are important and crucial to quantify your sleep and, for example, identify your REM Sleep. At the end you can use the total sleep duration as a macro indicator.
Sources:
- Pandve HT. Quaternary prevention: need of the hour. J Family Med Prim Care. 2014 Oct-Dec;3(4):309-10.
- Garber CE, Blissmer B, Deschenes MR, Franklin BA, Lamonte MJ, Lee IM, Nieman DC, Swain DP; American College of Sports Medicine. American College of Sports Medicine position stand. Quantity and quality of exercise for developing and maintaining cardiorespiratory, musculoskeletal, and neuromotor fitness in apparently healthy adults: guidance for prescribing exercise. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2011 Jul;43(7):1334-59.
- Lewis ZH, Lyons EJ, Jarvis JM, Baillargeon J. Using an electronic activity monitor system as an intervention modality: A systematic review. BMC Public Health. 2015 Jun 24;15:585. doi: 10.1186/s12889-015-1947-3. PubMed PMID: 26104189; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4479243.
- Sabanayagam C, Shankar A. Sleep duration and cardiovascular disease: results from the National Health Interview Survey. Sleep. 2010 Aug;33(8):1037-42.