While the use of wearable technology to track health parameters is tracking upwards and can positively impact healthy behaviours, new research shows devices can cause internal conflict for some users.

Published in PLOS Digital Health, the research: It’s like a toxic relationship: Examine internal conflict experienced in wearable activity tracer users, showed that some people experience unhealthy emotions, behavioural responses and attachment levels to devices. 

Among those surveyed there was evidence of both device-dependency and wearable fatigue. The research team are now planning to dive deeper into wearable fatigue and are currently recruiting individuals who have reduced or stopped wearing their activity trackers. 

Clinical exercise physiologist and University Fellow at the University of Salford, Dr Ashley Gluchowski, was one of the authors, she says: “In general, wearable activity tracker (WAT) users tend to be competitive, driven by numbers and already focused on health. Caution is needed if we are asking the public or patients to wear WATs for research purposes or as a part of healthcare services, especially in people who might already have a negative relationship with exercise.”

While research has shown that wearables can increase physical activity levels, the research found their use also has the potential to become toxic in a number of ways. For example, if individuals are using a device to determine whether or not they should be physically active; if they avoid physical activity because they forgot their device; lose touch with their own intuition; experience strong negative emotions as a result of the data, or lose sleep because of concern about a poor sleep score. 

"Some participants said things like, ‘I’m obsessed with my heart rate, probably to the detriment of my anxiety,'" said Gluchowski. "Therefore, we have to be careful that we are not increasing physical activity at the expense of decreasing our mental health. 

"We need clear guidance around healthy WAT use as well as information around device accuracy."