STAT+: Apple launches sweeping new health study that may inform future features
Apple is launching a new study to investigate the relationships between different aspects of health that can be measured using its devices.
Apple on Wednesday announced a new longitudinal research study that will investigate relationships between different aspects of health that can be measured using its devices, potentially informing the development of new health features.
Called simply the Apple Health Study, the project is a collaboration with researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and will enroll volunteers through Apple’s Research app, who will share as much or as little of their health data as they like. In addition to data about physical activity or sleep that might be captured in the Health app, the researchers will be able to distribute questionnaires to participants. People using Apple devices to collect data like steps or heart rate will also be able to contribute more granular data collected by built-in sensors. Right now the study is slated to run for five years.
The Apple Health app can record dozens of different parameters about health and the company notes that the study spans many areas including, activity, aging, cardiovascular health, circulatory health, cognition, hearing, menstrual health, mental health, metabolic health, mobility, neurologic health, respiratory health, sleep, and more. Apple did not make anyone available to discuss the study on the record.
