How My Fitbit Sense Identified COVID Effects Even Before Testing

[shubhamneo]

So, I and my family recently got hit with COVID-19 and my FitBit Sense was able to detect its effects even before we got tested.

Let me elaborate on that with some stats and screenshots below. The red arrow in screenshots signifies the date when I got COVID and the green arrow signifies the recovery date.

1) FitBit deducted a sudden rise in my breathing rate on 25th Jan, which came down on 29th Jan.
2) FitBit saw a deep drop in heart rate variability on 25th Jan, which is simply a measure of the variation in time between each heartbeat and gives a good measurement for one's well-being.
3) Fitbit generates a daily readiness score showcasing how ready you are for today's exercises. This saw a huge dip from 98 points to 4 points on 25th Jan and recovered to 100 on 29th Jan.
4) Fitbit also detected a rise in skin temperature on 25th Jan.
5) The resting heart rate saw an increase as well on 25th Jan.
6) Fitbit showed a less stress score on 25th Jan and marked an increase in stress score on 29th Jan. High-stress score = Less Stress.
7) Fitbit also kept giving notification of high heart rate even while sitting or lying down. This was because the heart was beating faster to fight the infection.
😎 FitBit stats on T day, is based on data collected on T-1 day, hence even before getting tested, FitBit started identifying changes in the body.

It's simply magically that a small piece of technology can highlight so many data points about your well-being. I showcased just a few stats, but other FitBit stats were also in sync with the above observations.

Good Job FitBit Sense! ❤️

Thanks,
Shubham Gupta

[SebWotan]

Nice presentation. 

This is quite expected, your stats are showing your body reacting to an infection by a pathogen in the respiratory tract: increased HR to provide the energy, increase temperature, increase HR links to increase in HRV. I am quite surprised to see the night breath rate affected. Did you observe more night variation in SpO2 ? 

[shubhamneo]

Thanks, glad you liked it! 🙂

I keep the SPo2 feature turned off to save battery life. 

[JennyTheUnfit]

I had been wondering about what you'd see if you got infected - thanks for sharing the screenshots; really interesting. Am glad to hear you're feeling better now. 

[shubhamneo]

Thanks Jenny, yep feeling better now! 🙂

[JennyTheUnfit]

Hi Shubham, I have a friend on Twitter who is similarly monitoring their infection using a fitness tracker. Would it be ok for me to share your images with him on Twitter (privately or publicly)? I'm sure he'd love to see them. Or if you are on Twitter you can find him at @Astro_will . Thanks. 

[shubhamneo]

Hi Jenny,

Feel free to share it 🙂

I'm also on Twitter - @Shubham_neo

[FBMum]

I tested really positive for Covid yesterday, though in fairness I have been feeling rough for a few days.  I wear an old Charge 2 device.  In the last 5 days my Heart rate variation figure - which we are told is an indicator of 'wellness' has plummeted from where it normally is - mid 30's down to a low of 10!!! last night:  31,33,28,14,10 It can only be down to the Covid, whereas my resting heart rate has been climbing 58, 57,59,60,62,64 even though the individual readings might not be entirely accurate on a wearable device I find it amazing how often I can spot a trend linked to health issues or what I've been doing, i.e. holidays etc.  It makes me wonder if the medical profession should start paying attention to data from these devices when you go to the GP etc.