Article Preview
TopIntroduction
Advances in information and communication technology (ICT) mean that consumers actively use mobile devices in all areas of human activity. Smart wearable devices (SWDs) have emerged from the popularity of mobile devices (Fang & Chang, 2016). Countless SWDs have been developed, including smartwatches, wristbands, fitness trackers, keychains, rings, jackets and glasses (Jee & Sohn, 2015). SWDs are currently available everywhere, and have become very popular among users (Farivar, Abouzahra, & Ghasemaghaei, 2020). SWDs are used in a variety of sectors, such as communication, management, healthcare and sports (Park, 2020). Deliveries of SWD will reach 9.6 million in 2022, with an 11% compound annual growth rate between 2017 and 2022 (CSS Insight, 2018). It has been forecasted by Gartner (2019) that end-user expenditure on SWDs will reach $52 billion in 2020.
The SWD refers to smart wearable electronic devices that use seamlessly embedded computers and other electronics and allow ubiquitous interactions between a smart environment and the user (Dehghani & Dangelico, 2017). One of the main applications for SWD is in the medical field and healthcare (Zhang, Luo, Nie, & Zhang, 2017). Presently, m-health has become an integral part of healthcare systems (Nisha, Iqbal, & Rifat, 2019). The Global Observatory for e-Health (GOe) working under the World Health Organization (WHO) has defined m-health as the medical and public health services supported by mobile devices like mobile phones, personal digital assistants, patient monitoring devices, and other wireless devices (Global Observatory for eHealth, 2011). Smart wearable healthcare (SWH) devices play critical role in m-health. SWH devices range from fitness trackers to more sophisticated devices (Casselman, Onopa, & Khansa, 2017; Marakhimov & Joo, 2017). Examples of SWH devices include the Fitbit, Apple Watch, Xiaomi Mi Band wristband and Samsung Gear (Cheung et al., 2019). P&S Market Research has reported that the market for SWH devices is expected to reach $1630.3 million in 2020, following a growth rate of 46.6% during 2015-2020 (He Li, Wu, Gao, & Shi, 2016; Zhang et al., 2017). SWH devices combine healthcare and technology to monitor health activities and provide real-time health information (Zhang et al., 2017). SWH devices provide extensive benefits to consumers in the continual tracking of physical parameters and recording of health information (K. J. Kim & Shin, 2015). SWH device monitoring is helpful in decreasing hospital admissions and mortality rates, sending alerts to physicians, improving physical and mental life, and managing emergencies (S. Y. Lee & Lee, 2018). These devices are helpful in keeping the individuals aware of their health status about the calories consumption and exercise activities. Consequently, such health monitoring is expected to be beneficial in controlling critical disorders due to the higher levels of hypertension, diabetes, and cardiovascular attacks. Thus, hospital emergencies are significantly decreased. SWH devices have the potential to reduce healthcare costs and improve the efficiency of healthcare (He Li et al., 2016). In case of remote patients’ monitoring, the physicians are able to monitor remotely the patients’ health status. The individuals with chronic diseases, or patients who need continual monitoring, are equipped with SWH devices. These devices can transmit data to medical monitors or smartphones for detailed investigation. If any critical changes relevant to the disease are found, alerts are sent to the physicians. Due to remote patients’ monitoring, unnecessary visits to the hospitals are decreased and healthcare cost is reduced (Roman et al., 2015).