Majority of Americans want connected devices to help monitor health
SAN JOSE, Calif. — According to an A&D Medical survey released Tuesday, more than half (56%) of Americans want to monitor their health with connnected devices. Most Americans are concerned about their weight, while less than half are concerned with their blood pressure. And very few Americans want to monitor their sexual activity or fertility, the survey found.
”While The Internet of Things is delivering a vast array of capabilities that come from connectivity, few come close to the human health benefits that come from professional and accurate monitoring of people’s vital health signs,” said Terry Duesterhoeft, president and CEO A&D Medical. “This survey shows that people really care about core health indicators like weight and blood pressure, and many want their doctors to be able to monitor them on a regular basis, with medical grade connected capabilities they can trust with their well-being. A&D Medical is helping millions of Americans with solutions that help improve fitness, lose weight, monitor blood pressure — all while securely sharing and reporting the information to the people you choose.”
A majority of Americans (66%) are concerned about their weight, with men between the ages of 55 years and 64 years the most concerned demographic with 74% concerned, followed by women ages 18 years to 34 years with 73% concerned. When it comes to weight, American concerns included the following:
Being overweight: 48%;
Being at risk for diabetes: 26%;
Considered attractive: 19%;
Sleep apnea: 11%;
Cancer:7%; and
Being underweight: 4%.
Nearly half of Americans (48%) are concerned about their blood pressure, with 1-in-4 Americans (25%) concerned about either having a stroke or developing hypertension. More than 1-in-5 Americans (23%) are worried about heart attacks.
A majority of Americans (56%) would want to monitor their health with connected health devices that automatically connect online and send information to their doctor or other people they choose. The most popular vital sign Americans wanted monitored was blood pressure, with 37% of Americans wanting to monitor that with connected devices followed by:
Weight:33%;
Chronic conditions (hypertension, diabetes, etc.): 25%;
Sleep: 23%;
Physical activity: 22%;
Diet: 19%;
Vision: 18%;
Medicine: 16%;
Sexual activity: 5%; and
Fertility: 4%.
One-in-two Americans say they want at home health measurement devices to automatically connect online to send information to their doctor and other people they choose. Americans cited several reasons they would want connected health, including:
It would keep track of my health information accurately: 30%;
It would allow me and my doctor to see trends and patterns: 29%;
It would give me peace of mind to know how I’m doing: 24%;
It would allow my doctor to be “in the know” to prevent surprises during appointments: 19%;
It would allow my doctor to monitor my health 24/7 if necessary: 18%;
Internet of Things is the future of medicin: 11%;
The whole world is connected so it makes sense for devices to be connected:10%; and
It’s difficult to enter the information into an app: 3%.
A majority of Americans (53%) say they would want connected health devices or apps to come from a company with healthcare experience for the following reasons: medical expertise is important to me (26%); I want to know I can trust the company making the device or app (25%); and companies with medical experience will know what information will be trusted by my doctors or important to my doctors (18%).
A&D Medical's Connected Health Study was conducted by Harris Poll, which surveyed 2,024 American adults representative of the United States in December 2014. A&D Medical commissioned the research to bring attention to WellnessConnected, a complete, connected health system with built-in sharing capabilities that offers both simplicity and affordability for consumers, as well as the security and precision demanded by healthcare providers.