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Corona virus: Use oximeter and respiration rate to measure status of COVID-19 illness ?

Willi
over 4 years ago

Hi,

Does anyone have reliable information (e.g. being a doctor), if the status of the COVID-19 disease can be measured by the oximeter or respiration rate on Garmin watches ?

When the illness is getting really dangerous, the level of oxygen in the blood goes down and the breathing rate goes up.

But the question is: Are the measurements on a smartwatch accurate and early enough to be used by COVID-19 patients ?

This could be really useful to monitor patients, who are sick, but still at home.

When the level of oxygen goes down and/or respiration goes up, those patients should go to the hospital.

Regards,

Willi

  • 0 over 4 years ago

    It would be really useful to hear if the Iq store apps have acces to raw information, maybe some dev can create an app...

  • 0 over 4 years ago

    See https://forums.garmin.com/outdoor-recreation/outdoor-recreation/f/fenix-6-series/218293/garmin-suggest-feature-to-detect-covid-19

    The thing is these aren't medical devices and anything would just be a guess. Even if there was such an app, I wouldn't trust it to be accurate.

  • 0 over 4 years ago

    pulsoximeter in va4 - is useless by my opinion. Overall usually 3-4% underestimated. Wrist measurements have drawbacks. But the medical device (on a finger), shows accurately. I compared.

  • 0 over 4 years ago

    Personal experience: 3 weeks ago I was diagnosed with bronchitis (if it was actually Covid19 or not, well, it doesn't matter now and I probably will never know). Had a bit difficulty breathing and a bit of cough.

    On normal days I get SpO2 readings averaging 96 - 97%. On that particular day it went all the way down to 90%, and then it slowly built up back to 96% in 2 days.

    So even if the actual absolute number is not accurate, it clearly worked for me on measuring a drop in the oxygen saturation levels. And ultimately this is what matters to me.

  • 0 over 4 years ago in reply to Krivyakin

    Indeed it is inaccurate. I had a medical checkup and had a sensor on my finger that read 99% the whole time. Did multiple runs on the VA4, always around 90-92%. Meaning waaaaay of.

    I never had higher than 95% on VA4, impossible.

  • 0 over 4 years ago

    The question is not how good is the measurement compared to medical measuring. The question is can it be used as an indicator. I'm very als curieus about feedback. The decrement of saturation is a very good indicator especially because medical staff is shocked by what they see in the hospitals : People who have very low saturation and don't notice it all.

  • 0 over 4 years ago

    Yes it can save lives. The accuracy is not great, the wrist is lower than finger usually by 3-6%. But, you are absolutely on to something here using the trend. If it drops 10% over several readings over a couple hours,  from a baseline value that is consistent,  go to the hospital. The trend is your friend, even with this first gen tech. Doc B

  • 0 over 4 years ago in reply to fallenwout

    I had already get 100% with my va4 oximeter. And I am always over 95%,  usually between 96 and 97 %. FW 4.50.

  • 0 over 4 years ago

    Spoke to my GP regarding Covid symptoms and she stated the best indicator for GPS testing for possible Covid patients was pulseOx readings just after exercise (brief -advised some stair climbing as an example) if the pulse ox dropped post activity from the patient norm and remained low or was slow to return they were possibly Covid +ve. She also stated that same patients were likely to have norm pulseOx readings at rest and may have no other respiratory symptoms present. Obviously garmin pulseOx readings maybe inaccurate compared to a medical device but if they are consistent then they could be a good indicator of pulseOx changes in the above test. My new this week VA4 appears to be within a couple of % of a portable nurse issue pulseOx device and pretty consistent tracking as long as strap is snug and arm in a good (not awkward) position for wrist readings. 

  • 0 over 4 years ago

    My own experiance. Myself a Doctor. My resting stress was higher than normal and my body battery was not charging, 3 monhs back, when I can hardly notice any symptom of common cold. I didn't put much attention to any other data. I went to gym as usual. My saturation during sleep was fine. I recovered fast as usual in hardly 2 day (for me). Am using F245.