Beyond fitness tracking: The use of consumer-grade wearable data from normal volunteers in cardiovascular and lipidomics research

Weng Khong Lim, Sonia Davila, Jing Xian Teo, Chengxi Yang, Chee Jian Pua, Christopher Blöcker, Jing Quan Lim, Jianhong Ching, Jonathan Jiunn Liang Yap, Swee Yaw Tan, Anders Sahlén, Calvin Woon-Loong Chin (+6 others)
2018 PLoS Biology  
The use of consumer-grade wearables for purposes beyond fitness tracking has not been comprehensively explored. We generated and analyzed multidimensional data from 233 normal volunteers, integrating wearable data, lifestyle questionnaires, cardiac imaging, sphingolipid profiling, and multiple clinical-grade cardiovascular and metabolic disease markers. We show that subjects can be stratified into distinct clusters based on daily activity patterns and that these clusters are marked by distinct
more » ... emographic and behavioral patterns. While resting heart rates (RHRs) performed better than step counts in being associated with cardiovascular and metabolic disease markers, step counts identified relationships between physical activity and cardiac remodeling, suggesting that wearable data may play a role in reducing overdiagnosis of cardiac hypertrophy or dilatation in active individuals. Wearable-derived activity levels can be used to identify known and novel activity-modulated sphingolipids that are in turn associated with insulin sensitivity. Our findings demonstrate the potential for wearables in biomedical research and personalized health. Author summary Little is known about how data from wearable sensors can be used apart from fitness tracking. We comprehensively studied 233 normal volunteers, integrating data from PLOS Biology | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.
doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.2004285 pmid:29485983 pmcid:PMC5828350 fatcat:rf45vibgnbc7rakeizokvd5h7u