Watch Your Steps! Investigating the Effect of Consumer Wearable Devices on Health and Healthcare Utilization

Abstract

This paper investigates the impact of advanced consumer wearables on self-perceived mental health, physical health, and healthcare utilization in the United States. While wearable technology promises to strengthen users’ health through real-time biometric feedback, the net effect on healthcare costs remains empirically uncertain. Using data from the Health Information National Trends Survey, conducted by the National Cancer Institute, I address the inherent selection bias of wearable adoption – whereby health-conscious individuals are more likely to self-select into treatment – by employing a series of Logit, Ordered Logit, Propensity Score Matching, and Inverse Probability Weighting models. I find that wearable use is associated with worse self-perceived mental health for uninsured users, improved physical health for the general American population, and a higher frequency of healthcare visits for all but the uninsured. I estimate that the total cost of extra healthcare visits from wearable usage is $4.06 billion. These results suggest that wearables are an effective substitute for healthcare visits for the uninsured, while wearables have less of a conclusive impact on insured users.