An October 2023 study said that,
“Fitbits and other wearable devices could potentially be linked to Electronic Health Records (EHRs) and have that data be something that surgeons consider when planning perioperative care for their patients,”
“This could really come to fruition to improve postoperative outcomes.”
“We used the combination of EHRs and Fitbit data to uncover how to potentially improve surgical outcomes. In our study, we looked at how many steps patients recorded on any given day, which is a proxy for physical activity,”
“However, the fitness data wasn’t limited to the immediate preoperative period. The length of their activity record could be six months or several years before surgery. This is more reflective of chronic physical activity habits, versus the physical activity in the immediate preoperative period.”
“If we find people who are at high risk, using these Fitbit tools, we could monitor them more closely following their procedure because that allows us to catch problems before they progress beyond control,”
“Another goal of our research is to modify physical activity in the preoperative period and improve postoperative outcomes. We need more studies and evidence to answer that question.”