Apple’s products, including the Apple Watch, iPhone, and now AirPods, consistently offer health-centric features, helping users track their fitness and achieve well-being. These features are often the result of years of research and multiple studies. Now, to further understand how Apple’s technology contributes to improving physical, mental, and overall well-being, the company has launched the Apple Health Study, available in the Research app.
Conducted in collaboration with Brigham and Women’s Hospital, a Harvard Medical School teaching affiliate, the study focuses on various aspects, such as how mental health affects heart rate and how sleep impacts exercise, and more.
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Apple Health Study: Why it matters
This is a long-term project, following previous major health-related studies like the Apple Women’s Health Study, the Apple Hearing Study, and the Apple Heart and Movement Study. Combined, these studies have over 3,50,000 participants across the U.S.
This new study aims to build on that foundation, analyzing data from Apple and third-party devices to explore how it can predict, detect, monitor, and manage changes in participants’ health.
The research will focus on numerous health areas, including activity, aging, cardiovascular and circulatory health, cognition, hearing, menstrual, mental, metabolic, and neurological health, as well as mobility, respiratory health, sleep, and more.
Apple notes that changes in health can affect multiple aspects of the body and overall well-being. Early identification is crucial for better health management; for example, early detection of hearing changes could reduce the risk of cognitive decline.
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Apple Health Study to help in development of future health-centric prodcuts
The Apple Health Study is designed to explore these changes and how technology can help identify key insights. This research is expected to contribute to future product development. We’ve already seen Apple introduce features like hearing aid functionality with AirPods Pro 2, and this study suggests even more health-focused innovations could be on the way.
“Research and validation are part of the foundation of all of our work in health, supporting the innovative features we bring to our users across devices,” said Sumbul Desai, M.D., Apple’s vice president of Health.
She added, “The valuable insights we’ve gained since launching the Research app have allowed us to bring innovative new tools to our users — including the Vitals app on Apple Watch and Walking Steadiness on iPhone — and surface new insights in areas of health that have long been undervalued, like menstrual and hearing health. We’re thrilled to bring forward the Apple Health Study, which will only accelerate our understanding of health and technology across the human body, both physically and mentally.”
Who is this study available for?
Currently, the Apple Health Study is only open for enrolment via the Apple Research app. It is available exclusively to participants residing in the U.S. who meet the minimum age requirement and consent to the study’s terms.
Participation is entirely voluntary, and individuals can choose which types of data they share with Apple and researchers. Additionally, they can stop sharing their data at any time.
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