According to a statistical analysis by Market.us Scoop, a platform that compiles and evaluates technology market data, industry trends, and survey research, 32 percent of people in the U.S. are currently using wearable devices, such as a smartwatch, smart ring, or fitness tracker. It’s higher among certain age groups (nearly 69 percent of those aged 25 to 34 use one). A survey analysis published in the journal NPJ Digital Medicine found that the demographics most likely to use a wearable identify as female and/or are Gen-Z.
Most smart-device wearers use them to count daily steps, track other fitness data, or access health-monitoring features like heart rate, blood pressure, body composition, or sleep quality. Roughly 32 percent of users from the Market.us Scoop analysis reported a desire to keep up with the latest tech trends as a driving motivator.
All this tracking can be undoubtedly helpful, offering accountability and evidence of progress through quantitative data, generating easy-to-reference personal statistics, and simply encouraging more movement throughout the day. And, as we know, more movement can provide numerous physical and mental health benefits. But are the “pros” worth the potential “cons”?
The trickiness of wearable tech
Like pretty much any technology—or health endeavor, for that matter—it’s possible to take it too far. Over-reliance on wearable tech can mean placing too much faith in what it’s telling you versus how you’re actually feeling.
One problem is that a majority of wearables aren’t official medical devices. Plus, they aren’t always accurate, so receiving inaccurate data or misinterpreting what it’s telling you could create unnecessary anxiety.
In a 2024 study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association (JAMA), researchers looked at 172 patients with atrial fibrillation. They found that those who wore health trackers were more preoccupied with their medical condition than those who didn’t. Twenty percent of wearable users in the study “experienced anxiety and always contacted their doctors in response to irregular rhythm notifications,” which may not always be necessary.
On the other hand, another study published in JAMA found that patients who have cardiovascular disease or are at risk for the condition (who, according to the researchers, could benefit most from a heart-rate tracker) are significantly less likely to use a wearable device than other demographic groups. (Of course, the lower usage among cardiovascular patients might be age-related—nearly half are age 65 or older.)
An additional study from 2024 looked at 509 smartwatch users who used their devices to track fitness and physiological markers. The researchers found that “users became anxious when their physiological data were abnormal and experienced dependence when tracking sleep status, heart rate, and exercise.” (In some cases, “tracking anxiety” left some participants wanting to stop wearing a smartwatch altogether.)
More research is needed on the mental health impact of wearable tech devices, experts say. But there’s growing evidence on the impact of smartphone addiction, with some research connecting smartphone overuse with higher neuroticism—and there are some parallels to be drawn.
Let’s say you’re not using a smartwatch for health purposes but just as a more accessible component of your smartphone—that is, one literally attached to your body. Research has shown that push notifications for calls and texts can be hugely distracting and make it harder to complete tasks—not exactly breaking news, but worth noting. Wearables may just be exacerbating these effects.
I previously had an Apple Watch, for example, and could feel my heart rate going up when I’d get text notifications first to my wrist, then to my phone, then once more to my MacBook.
I don’t really like texting—does anyone anymore?—but I do find it a necessary tool, socially and logistically. Minimizing my daily texting minutes (by time-blocking responses to the group chats and muting alerts from everyone except my husband and our children’s schools during work hours) makes me feel more focused, less uneasy, and more accomplished at the end of the day.
On the other hand, I love my Fitbit. My daily average for 2025 is 10,349 steps. Is the 10,000-step-a-day goal arbitrary? Yes! Still, does it help me stay active and offer a sense of triumph when I hit the mark? Also yes. That said, I despise notifications, so I’ve set my Fitbit to function only as a clock and pedometer.
I have an Eight Sleep, the smart mattress cover that delivers automatic temperature regulation through a water-based system. It’s incredible for keeping me asleep, though I’m not very interested in the metrics provided in its mobile app. Occasionally, I’ll check how many minutes of deep sleep I got, but I don’t need it to tell me when I slept well or poorly. I know when I’m tired, thank you very much.
For some people, there are benefits to be found with sleep trackers: “There are a significant number of people who think they are sleeping ‘better’ or at least fine who then find ways to improve quantity or quality after tracking,” Ed O’Malley, an integrative sleep medicine practitioner and dynamical neurofeedback specialist based in Massachusetts, told The Daily Beast.
But O’Malley added that many others obsessively track their sleep, fixating on every metric rather than tuning into how they’re actually feeling. He pointed to a newer phenomenon called orthosomnia, when someone has “an excessive concern with trying to improve their sleep data, despite having no observable daytime consequence of their current sleep regimen.”
The bottom line on wearable tech
So, what can we take away from all of this? Is wearable technology making us healthier, more motivated, or more rested? Or does it make people feel anxious when they see less-than-optimal numbers or get double the push notifications they’d get with just a smartphone? The answer, of course, is highly personal.
For some (perhaps even most) smart-device wearers, the health and convenience benefits may outweigh any drawbacks. It’s important to remember, too, that we’re in control of how our devices feed us information. We can adjust settings, mute alerts, and forgo distracting features.
If gamifying your step count helps you stay physically fit or if tracking your shut-eye makes you feel more rested day to day, then by all means, embrace the tech. However, if you’d rather take orders from your own brain to get up and move or go to bed earlier instead of being nudged by a smartwatch or ring, give yourself permission to go without. Figure out what works for you, and make the best of it.
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