Researchers Use Apple Watch for Stress Detection, The Results Are Accurate!

EKG feature on Apple Watch (photo: dock. Apple)

JAKARTA - Sometimes stress or depression in a person is difficult to predict, for this reason, researchers from the University of Waterloo, Canada, use an Apple Watch to detect and track stress levels.

It turns out that Apple's wearable device can accurately predict stress levels. Starting the study, the researchers gave 33 subjects (participants) two devices, iPhone 7 and Apple Watch Series 6 that support Electrocardiogram (ECG) monitoring.

Next, they instructed the participants to collect ECGs six times a day, three hours apart. Before each ECG measurement, the participants filled out a stress questionnaire on their iPhone 7.

Then, two weeks of data were collected from each participant and then developed a machine learning algorithm to interpret the data. The researchers used ECG to extract Heart Rate Variability (HRV), a parameter that can measure stress.

As a result, they found the Apple Watch could be a predictor of stress, even when it wasn't present in a person. Furthermore, participants who experienced stress had a high level of precision but lower recall.

Meanwhile, participants who were not stressed generally performed well with memory usually above 60 percent. Researchers say this is the first study to use Apple Watch ECG data to predict individual stress levels.

However, more research is needed to refine these findings, especially if a larger and more diverse sample of participants can refine the results.

In addition, citing the DailyMail, Monday, January 2, additional health data points from the Apple Watch, such as sleep and physical activity, can further enhance the device's ability to predict and track stress.

In other words, researchers hope that one day Apple can build a stress tracking feature into the Apple Watch. The tool can combine data from device sensors with algorithms to predict and track stress levels and offer people immediate solutions to help reduce stress.

In turn, this can have a beneficial effect on the well-being of Apple Watch users.

This research was published earlier this month in Frontiers in Digital Health. Competitor devices already offer stress monitoring systems like Garmin and Fitbit.