{"id":2202,"date":"2025-06-01T09:58:30","date_gmt":"2025-06-01T08:58:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.manchester.ac.uk\/health-research-from-home\/?p=2202"},"modified":"2026-06-11T10:08:26","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T09:08:26","slug":"exploring-long-covid-how-smartphones-and-wearables-help-reveal-symptoms-and-risks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.manchester.ac.uk\/health-research-from-home\/2025\/06\/01\/exploring-long-covid-how-smartphones-and-wearables-help-reveal-symptoms-and-risks\/","title":{"rendered":"Exploring long COVID: How smartphones and wearables help reveal symptoms and risks"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[et_pb_section bb_built=&#8221;1&#8243; admin_label=&#8221;section&#8221; fullwidth=&#8221;on&#8221; next_background_color=&#8221;#000000&#8243; global_module=&#8221;322&#8243;][et_pb_fullwidth_menu global_parent=&#8221;322&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;3.0.106&#8243; menu_id=&#8221;7&#8243; submenu_direction=&#8221;downwards&#8221; fullwidth_menu=&#8221;off&#8221; background_layout=&#8221;dark&#8221; module_class=&#8221;main-navigation&#8221; \/][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=&#8221;1&#8243; fullwidth=&#8221;off&#8221; specialty=&#8221;on&#8221; prev_background_color=&#8221;#000000&#8243; next_background_color=&#8221;#1d1d1d&#8221;][et_pb_column type=&#8221;2_3&#8243; specialty_columns=&#8221;2&#8243;][et_pb_row_inner locked=&#8221;off&#8221;][et_pb_column_inner type=&#8221;4_4&#8243; saved_specialty_column_type=&#8221;2_3&#8243;][et_pb_post_title _builder_version=&#8221;3.17.6&#8243; featured_placement=&#8221;above&#8221; locked=&#8221;on&#8221; parent_locked=&#8221;off&#8221; date_format=&#8221;j M Y&#8221; \/][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;3.17.6&#8243; background_layout=&#8221;light&#8221; parent_locked=&#8221;off&#8221;]<\/p>\n<p>While lockdowns and face masks may feel like a thing of the past, for many people, COVID-19 is still causing problems. Long COVID is when people still have symptoms like fatigue, brain fog, or breathlessness weeks or even months after getting sick.<\/p>\n<p>But the symptoms of long COVID are not very well understood, and it\u2019s not clear who is more likely to get long COVID.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thelancet.com\/journals\/landig\/article\/PIIS2589-7500(24)00140-7\/fulltext\">A study published in September 2024 in The Lancet Digital Health<\/a> aimed to find out more, using data from smartphones and wearable devices like Fitbits.<\/p>\n<h2>How were smartphones and\/or wearables used in the study?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>People filled in surveys on a smartphone app. They shared information on their mental well-being and what COVID-19 symptoms they had.<\/li>\n<li>People also shared data from their Fitbits, such as their heart rate, how much they slept, and their step count.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>What did the study find?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Resting heart rates stayed higher than normal for up to four months after having COVID-19.<\/li>\n<li>Some people reported feeling more depressed and anxious for up to three months after getting COVID-19.<\/li>\n<li>Fatigue was the longest-lasting symptom after getting COVID-19. Some people still felt fatigued for more than 140 days.<\/li>\n<li>People who were more active before they got COVID-19 were less likely to get long COVID.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>This study shows that smartphones and wearables could help track long-term illnesses, like long COVID. This could help researchers better understand the symptoms of these illnesses and allow doctors to use this information to treat patients better.<\/p>\n<p>Read the full paper: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thelancet.com\/journals\/landig\/article\/PIIS2589-7500(24)00140-7\/fulltext\">Physiological presentation and risk factors of long COVID in the UK using smartphones and wearable devices: a longitudinal, citizen science, case-control study<\/a><\/p>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_post_nav _builder_version=&#8221;3.0.106&#8243; in_same_term=&#8221;off&#8221; show_prev=&#8221;on&#8221; show_next=&#8221;on&#8221; prev_text=&#8221;Previous&#8221; next_text=&#8221;Next&#8221; locked=&#8221;on&#8221; parent_locked=&#8221;off&#8221; \/][et_pb_comments _builder_version=&#8221;3.0.106&#8243; show_avatar=&#8221;on&#8221; show_reply=&#8221;on&#8221; show_count=&#8221;on&#8221; background_layout=&#8221;light&#8221; header_font_size_tablet=&#8221;51&#8243; header_line_height_tablet=&#8221;2&#8243; custom_button=&#8221;on&#8221; button_icon_placement=&#8221;right&#8221; button_text_color=&#8221;#ffffff&#8221; button_use_icon=&#8221;off&#8221; locked=&#8221;on&#8221; parent_locked=&#8221;off&#8221; button_text_size__hover_enabled=&#8221;off&#8221; button_text_size__hover=&#8221;null&#8221; button_one_text_size__hover_enabled=&#8221;off&#8221; button_one_text_size__hover=&#8221;null&#8221; button_two_text_size__hover_enabled=&#8221;off&#8221; button_two_text_size__hover=&#8221;null&#8221; button_text_color__hover_enabled=&#8221;off&#8221; button_text_color__hover=&#8221;null&#8221; button_one_text_color__hover_enabled=&#8221;off&#8221; button_one_text_color__hover=&#8221;null&#8221; button_two_text_color__hover_enabled=&#8221;off&#8221; button_two_text_color__hover=&#8221;null&#8221; button_border_width__hover_enabled=&#8221;off&#8221; button_border_width__hover=&#8221;null&#8221; button_one_border_width__hover_enabled=&#8221;off&#8221; button_one_border_width__hover=&#8221;null&#8221; button_two_border_width__hover_enabled=&#8221;off&#8221; button_two_border_width__hover=&#8221;null&#8221; button_border_color__hover_enabled=&#8221;off&#8221; button_border_color__hover=&#8221;null&#8221; button_one_border_color__hover_enabled=&#8221;off&#8221; button_one_border_color__hover=&#8221;null&#8221; button_two_border_color__hover_enabled=&#8221;off&#8221; button_two_border_color__hover=&#8221;null&#8221; button_border_radius__hover_enabled=&#8221;off&#8221; button_border_radius__hover=&#8221;null&#8221; button_one_border_radius__hover_enabled=&#8221;off&#8221; button_one_border_radius__hover=&#8221;null&#8221; button_two_border_radius__hover_enabled=&#8221;off&#8221; button_two_border_radius__hover=&#8221;null&#8221; button_letter_spacing__hover_enabled=&#8221;off&#8221; button_letter_spacing__hover=&#8221;null&#8221; button_one_letter_spacing__hover_enabled=&#8221;off&#8221; button_one_letter_spacing__hover=&#8221;null&#8221; button_two_letter_spacing__hover_enabled=&#8221;off&#8221; button_two_letter_spacing__hover=&#8221;null&#8221; 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Long COVID is when people still have symptoms like fatigue, brain fog, or breathlessness weeks or even months after getting sick. But the symptoms of long COVID are not very well understood, and it\u2019s [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":792,"featured_media":1961,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2202","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tap-into-research"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.manchester.ac.uk\/health-research-from-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2202","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.manchester.ac.uk\/health-research-from-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.manchester.ac.uk\/health-research-from-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.manchester.ac.uk\/health-research-from-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/792"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.manchester.ac.uk\/health-research-from-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2202"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sites.manchester.ac.uk\/health-research-from-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2202\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2205,"href":"https:\/\/sites.manchester.ac.uk\/health-research-from-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2202\/revisions\/2205"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.manchester.ac.uk\/health-research-from-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1961"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.manchester.ac.uk\/health-research-from-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2202"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.manchester.ac.uk\/health-research-from-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2202"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.manchester.ac.uk\/health-research-from-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}