How should doctors use wearable health data?

Neurology guidance on using wearable data

The American Academy of Neurology (AAN) issued guidance on how clinicians should approach wearable health data—including information from devices such as smartwatches and products like Oura Ring—to help patients and providers “connect the dots” between metrics and potential health risks.

The guidance frames wearables as tools that can support care, not replace clinical evaluation. In practice, wearables can generate continuous or frequent readings on health-related signals, and those patterns may help clinicians identify issues that warrant further assessment. The AAN’s emphasis is on clinicians using wearable information in a way that is appropriate to the patient context—such as considering trends over time rather than treating a single reading as a definitive diagnosis.

Equally important, the AAN also highlights potential downsides. Wearables can be affected by device accuracy limits, user behavior, and interpretation errors. Signals may look alarming even when they do not reflect a true medical problem, which can lead to unnecessary worry or testing.

Practical clinical takeaways

• Use wearables to support clinical decision-making, especially by looking at trends
• Interpret data in context of the patient’s symptoms, history, and exam
• Avoid assuming that a wearable metric automatically equals a diagnosis

The AAN’s guidance matters because wearables are increasingly common and patients may arrive with device-generated numbers. Clear professional recommendations help clinicians respond consistently—encouraging helpful use of technology while guarding against overinterpretation of imperfect data.