Wearable technology emerges as a potential game-changer in early detection of COVID-19 among athletes

In a groundbreaking study conducted by Florida State University, wearable technology has emerged as a potential game-changer in the early detection of COVID-19 among NCAA Division I female student-athletes.

The research by FSU Professor Michael Ormsbee, Assistant Athletic Director of Sport Performance Elisa Angeles and doctoral candidate Liliana Rentería in the Institute of Sports Sciences and Medicine (ISSM) focused on the use of WHOOP bands, which use optical sensors to measure and predict how fast your heart beats, how often you breathe, how you sleep and then use that information to calculate your strain and recovery.

The ISSM research team, which works closely with athletes, monitored 113 NCAA Division I female student-athletes in soccer, golf, softball, indoor volleyball, beach volleyball and tennis. The athletes were equipped with WHOOP bands over a 10-month period, from August 2020 to May 2021.

The project started when Angeles, who is also the associate director of Athletics Research for ISSM, noticed changes in what her student-athletes' WHOOP bands were recording. There were several examples where Angeles suspected something based on the data, said Ormsbee, director of the ISSM.

The WHOOP band monitoring allowed the researchers to establish baseline levels for heart rate variability (HRV), resting heart rate (RHR), respiratory rate (RR) and recovery. Researchers observed how the student-athletes' metrics changed in the days leading up to a positive COVID-19 test and saw that respiratory rate increased three days before a positive test.

Of the student-athletes monitored, 33 eventually tested positive for COVID.

RHR and HRV, on the other hand, did not show significant changes until one day before the positive test.

Source: www.news-medical.net