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A number of doctors aren't so sure about the benefits of wearables eithers. A recent MIT Technology Review story found doctors from a number of specialities unsure about what to do with the data many of their fitness-tracking patients are bringing them."Clinicians can't do a lot with the number of steps you've taken in a day," Neil Sehgal, a senior research scientist at UCSF Center for Digital Health Innovation said. Andrew Trister, an oncologist and researcher at Sage Bionetworks echoed this sentiment. "[Patients] come in with these very large Excel spreadsheets, with all this information," he said. "I have no idea what to do with that."
One of the short-term problems for trackers is that their [sic] not actually reliable enough to be medically useful. The sorts of measurements that devices cheap enough to be commercial products tend only to focus on vague metrics that could just as easily be inferred from a short interview or basic examination. While certain health trackers have shown promise—such as the small implants that manage insulin for diabetics—they can also produce a hyper-vigilance and paranoia, leading to a degenerative process of over-managing issues that a person's body is already handling.
Are there Soylentils that do use fitness trackers regularly? Do they help you manage your health?
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 02 2015, @01:35PM
Probably not a useful format. Do most doctors know how to explore datasets or even have computers capable of fitting this into memory? In my experiance most clinical researchers barely know how to use excel.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by rob_on_earth on Wednesday December 02 2015, @01:56PM
I would also hope the Doctors are unwilling to insert a random USB key into their machines. Most of the UK doctors I have visited in the last couple of years were running XP
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Thexalon on Wednesday December 02 2015, @02:23PM
Also, even if doctors know how to, they almost never have time to - they typically get at most about 20 minutes per patient for routine stuff.
Here's basically what a doctor would probably like to know about your exercise habits:
1. Do you have a regular exercise routine?
2. If so, what sorts of exercises does it include (aerobics, team sports, martial arts, running, weight lifting, etc)?
3. Are you experiencing any kind of chronic pain or strain after your exercise routine?
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 1) by nitehawk214 on Wednesday December 02 2015, @02:51PM
Exactly. A doctor will ask their patient how much exercise and what type they are doing. They can lie to the doctor, but why?
"Don't you ever miss the days when you used to be nostalgic?" -Loiosh
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Wednesday December 02 2015, @04:18PM
Because they're human.
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2) by quixote on Thursday December 03 2015, @02:01AM
Tie it to the kitten. Everybody's happy.
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Thursday December 03 2015, @10:14AM
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves