An Investigation into the Rise of Wearable Technologies in the Healthcare Sector

Wearable technologies and self-tracking healthcare apps are becoming increasingly popular among people all over the world. Moreover, with the rapid increase in technological advancements, studies on the ease of use and intent to adopt wearable devices have gained prominence in the aftermath of the Covid-19 Pandemic. More specifically, fitness wearables have grown in popularity as health consciousness among the younger and older populations has grown, allowing them to track and monitor their heart rate, calories, sleep, and steps taken throughout the day. These wearable technologies are considered to have a wide range of applications ranging from the workplace to recreational activities. Several studies have shown how the emergence of wearable technology will benefit society, but fewer studies have integrated the practical implementations of wearable technologies and wearable devices which is utilised for personalised healthcare applications. As a result, the current study employs a bibliometric approach using Scopus databases to refine articles related to health tracking applications, remote patient monitoring, chronic disease management, and infectious disease prevention. In doing so, the findings of the study are portrayed in conjunction with VOSviewer, which showcases the key clusters and studies that are related to wearable technologies and their applications as physiological and biometric sensors. More specifically, the findings show that most studies emphasise on how wearable technologies are concentrated as physiological sensors to track important information about an individual’s health, as well as how wearable technologies are widely adopted among older populations and can track critical diseases, enabling effective remote patient monitoring in healthcare fields. Finally, the paper concludes by acknowledging the risks and privacy concerns of using wearable technologies within the healthcare sector.