“Truth in Medicine” Poll: Santa, Are You Listening? Wearable Health Devices Are a Hot Wish-List Item

Poll respondents say they inspire healthier habits and follow-up appointments with physicians:

• 44 percent wear health monitoring or wearable fitness devices; 39 percent have used direct-to-consumer health products
  
• 74 percent of device wearers say they share their information with their doctors 
  
• One-third of respondents say a wearable health/fitness device is on their holiday wish list

An overwhelming majority of those who use wearable health devices say the information the devices produce prompts them to follow up with their doctors and make changes to improve their health, according to the latest Mount Sinai South Nassau Truth in Medicine Poll.

Of the 600 adults who were polled in New York City and on Long Island, 44 percent wear health monitoring or wearable fitness devices, and 39 percent have used direct-to-consumer health products, such as at-home COVID-19 testing kits. Sixty-three percent say the devices and products make them more likely to visit their physician, while 24 percent say they make them less likely to visit. Of the many wearable device users, 53 percent use the Apple Watch, while 28 percent use a Fitbit or other step-tracking device, and 25 percent wear a continuous glucose monitor. Just 6 percent of respondents use the Oura Ring and 5 percent the Whoop.

To take some guesswork out of your holiday shopping, consider this: 33 percent of respondents say a health monitoring/wearable fitness device is on their holiday wish list. Those who already wear a device are, by far, the most likely to want a new one.

The most popular home testing product is the COVID-19 test, with 85 percent of respondents confirming that they have used it. Twenty-four percent have used the FluMist vaccine (which is ordered through the "FluMist Home" program and can be self-administered by adults between the ages of 18-49 and administered to children between the ages of 2-17 by a caregiver/parent), while 21 percent have used diabetes testing. Seventeen percent have used HERS and 8 percent HIMS (HIMS and HERS,  a telehealth company providing personalized healthcare for men and women through an online platform, now offer “Labs,” which offer up to 120 at-home biomarker tests across 10 health areas with personalized action plans); 12 percent have used Cologuard; and 3 percent DNA testing.

According to a 2022 survey of more than 2,000 U.S. adults, consumers are using wearable technology and home-testing products to track a range of vital health metrics, including pulse rate (59 percent), calories and nutrition (42 percent), heart health (40 percent), sleep quality and duration (39 percent), and breathing rate (30 percent). The immediate and long-term health and wellness benefits of the wearable devices and at-home testing products include personal health and wellness engagement, lifestyle choices focused on disease prevention, and commitment to a fitness routine, leading to an enhanced quality of life.

Both device wearers and consumer health products users overwhelmingly agreed in the poll that the information produced by their device/product has inspired them to make positive changes that have improved their overall health and enhanced conversations with their physicians.

“When patients have their data, it empowers physicians to prescribe personalized, timely interventions and treatments, which is crucial for better outcomes,” said Adhi Sharma, MD, President of Mount Sinai South Nassau.

While many share information from devices with their doctors, there is still opportunity for more engagement. Some 74 percent of device wearers say they share their data with their doctors, according to the poll. Among users of specific types of devices, 92 percent of those with glucose monitors share their data with their doctors while only 61 percent of step-tracker wearers do so.

As the technology continues its rapid advances, their value and impact on patient care and providing enhanced personalized health care won’t be realized until seamless integration of the devices with healthcare providers’ electronic health records system is achieved, allowing for real-time data transmission from the devices to patients’ electronic medical records.

“The next step in maximizing the data and information harnessed by these devices and products is their integration with electronic health records systems, such as Epic and its patient portal, MyMountSinai,” said Aaron E. Glatt, MD, Chair of the Department of Medicine and Chief of Infectious Diseases at Mount Sinai South Nassau. “This will facilitate truly proactive and preventive care as well as enhanced chronic disease management and postoperative monitoring.” 

Other key findings from the public health poll include:

• 57 percent of all those polled say they are concerned about the ability of consumer health products to protect patient information. However, just 36 percent of respondents who use these products share that concern. 
  
• Only 19 percent of those who do not currently use consumer health products say they would consider using them in the future; 53 percent say they would not and 28 percent are not sure.
  
• Fifty-three percent of respondents say they are more likely to screen for health conditions if they can do it at home, with 79 percent of consumer health product users and 73 percent of telemedicine users agreeing with this statement.
  
• Of those who wear a device, 62 percent say their doctor recommended they do so.
  
•  Among those who do not wear a device, only four percent had a doctor recommend that they wear one.
  
• Men under 50 tend to have Apple Watches but could use further education on the importance of annual physicals.
  
• Hispanics are the least engaged with health and fitness devices, telemedicine, and annual wellness exams.
  
• Five percent of respondents say they always use telemedicine; 11 percent use it frequently, 20 percent use it some of the time, 12 percent use it rarely, and 50 percent never use it.
  

Regardless of these products’ popularity, the public is in no rush to trust their health and wellness completely to them, as 70 percent of respondents, including 85 percent of those who use consumer health products, agree that they do not replace primary care physicians and specialists. 

This is mostly due to the close relationship patients and their physicians establish over time. This trust is reflected in the finding that 70 percent of the more than 50 percent of poll respondents who use wearable and consumer health products report that they have confidence in their health care provider. More than 50 percent of these respondents have had an in-person wellness/annual physical exam in the past year, and 37 percent have had a physical within the past two years. Only 11 percent have had their most recent physical between two and five years ago, and 2 percent had their last physical more than five years ago.

Sponsored by FourLeaf, the Mount Sinai South Nassau Truth in Medicine Poll aims to gather data about public attitudes on key public health topics and spur education and discussion. The poll was conducted from Wednesday, November 12 through Sunday, November 16, via both landlines and cell phones. Poll findings are subject to a sampling error of plus or minus 3.9 percent.

“Wearing health monitoring devices has a positive impact on health and encourages connection to a physician and more engagement with your own health,” said Linda Armyn, Chief Executive Officer of FourLeaf. “Educating people about these technologies is an important public health topic. I applaud the work Mount Sinai South Nassau is doing to create awareness on such an important topic.”

This is the 23rd “Truth in Medicine” Poll and third of 2025. The poll is part of Mount Sinai South Nassau’s mission of outreach to improve education around critical public health issues.

The poll was conducted by a nationally recognized independent polling firm, LJR Custom Strategies, with offices in Washington, D.C., and New Orleans. LJR has conducted more than 2,000 studies for a broad spectrum of health care, business, education, cultural, and political clients in nearly every state in the country and around the world.

Mount Sinai South Nassau began conducting the public health poll in January 2017. Previous polls have focused on alcohol consumption and its association with cancer risk, cellphone use in schools, mental health services, holiday stress, the human papilloma virus vaccine, legalization of recreational marijuana, supplements, antibiotic use and misuse, and screen time, among others. For more information about the polls, visit www.southnassau.org/sn/truth-in-medicine.

About Mount Sinai South Nassau
The Long Island flagship hospital of the Mount Sinai Health System, Mount Sinai South Nassau is designated a Magnet® hospital by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) for outstanding nursing care. Mount Sinai South Nassau is one of the region’s largest hospitals, with 455 beds, more than nine hundred physicians and 3,500 employees. Located in Oceanside, New York, the hospital is an acute-care, not-for-profit teaching hospital that provides state-of-the-art care in cardiac, oncologic, orthopedic, bariatric, pain management, mental health, and emergency services and operates the only Trauma Center on the South Shore of Nassau County, along with Long Island’s only free-standing Emergency Department in Long Beach.

In addition to its extensive outpatient specialty centers, Mount Sinai South Nassau provides emergency and elective angioplasty, and offers Novalis Tx™ and Gamma Knife® radiosurgery technologies. Mount Sinai South Nassau operates the only Trauma Center on the South Shore of Nassau County verified by the American College of Surgeons as well as Long Island’s only free-standing, 9-1-1 receiving Emergency Department in Long Beach. Mount Sinai South Nassau also is a designated Stroke Center by the New York State Department of Health and Comprehensive Community Cancer Center by the American College of Surgeons; is an accredited center of the Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Association and Quality Improvement Program; and an Infectious Diseases Society of America Antimicrobial Stewardship Center of Excellence. 
For more information, go to www.mountsinai.org/southnassau.