Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), like Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, can be difficult to manage. One of the challenges is dealing with flares – times when symptoms can return or get worse, even after a period of feeling well. These flares can be unpredictable and have a big impact on daily life.

A new study, including 309 people with IBD from across the United States, looked at whether data measured by smartwatches and smart rings could help identify and predict IBD flares.

How were smartphones and/or wearables used in the study?

Participants used their own Apple Watch, Fitbit, or Oura Ring, or could borrow one if needed. In total, 102 devices were loaned out to participants.

The following measurements were used from these devices:

• Heart rate (HR)
• Resting heart rate (RHR)
• Heart rate variability (HRV) – a measure of the variation in time between each heartbeat
• Step count

What did the study find?

Inflammatory flares (based on blood tests)

• HRV patterns changed during inflammatory flares, compared with remission.
• HR and RHR were higher during inflammatory flares.
• People took fewer steps during inflammatory flares.

Symptomatic flares (based on patient-reported symptoms)

• HR and RHR were also higher during symptomatic flares.
• There was no evidence that step count changed during symptomatic flares.

Predicting future flares

• Changes in HR, RHR, HRV, and step count began up to 7 weeks before a flare.
• Models including these measurements could predict whether a flare would happen in the future.

Why does this matter?

This study shows the value of monitoring people with IBD day-to-day – something that isn’t possible with healthcare appointments that are often weeks or months apart. The smartwatches and smart rings used in this study picked up changes in HR and HRV during flares, and even before symptoms appeared. These findings open the door to future research on how treatment could be adapted to improve outcomes for people living with IBD.

Read the full paper: Physiological data collected from wearable devices identify and predict inflammatory bowel disease flares

Related