Wearable device use increased among US adults from 2020 to 2024, but daily use and clinician-directed data sharing remained limited, suggesting a need for approaches to help realize the potential of wearable devices as health care tools.
Key Findings
Results
Wearable device use among US adults increased significantly from 2020 to 2024.
Wearable use increased from 30.2% (95% CI, 27.6%-32.7%) in 2020 to 41.1% (95% CI, 39.0%-43.2%) in 2024.
In adjusted analyses, wearable use increased by 30% per 2-year interval (adjusted odds ratio, 1.30; 95% CI, 1.19-1.41).
Similar upward trends were observed among adults with cardiovascular disease (CVD) or CVD risk factors.
Temporal trends were consistent across sociodemographic subgroups of age, sex, race and ethnicity, and income.
Results
Daily wearable device use remained low and did not increase over the study period.
Approximately one-half of wearable users reported daily use across all survey cycles.
Daily use showed no meaningful change from 2020 to 2024 in adjusted analyses.
This pattern was consistent across the sociodemographic subgroups examined.
Results
Willingness to share wearable-derived health data with clinicians was high but declined over the study period.
Willingness to share declined from 81.3% (95% CI, 77.1%-85.5%) in 2020 to 73.4% (95% CI, 70.7%-76.2%) in 2024.
In adjusted analyses, willingness to share data showed no meaningful change after accounting for covariates.
In 2024, higher digital literacy was associated with greater willingness to share data.
Results
Actual sharing of wearable-derived health data with clinicians remained low across all survey cycles.
Actual sharing increased only modestly from 14.2% (95% CI, 12.4%-16.0%) in 2020 to 19.2% (95% CI, 17.7%-20.6%) in 2024.
Adjusted analyses showed no meaningful change in actual data sharing over time.
Higher digital literacy in 2024 was not associated with actual data sharing, despite being associated with willingness to share.
A large gap persisted between willingness to share (73.4% in 2024) and actual sharing (19.2% in 2024).
Results
The study population of wearable users was predominantly female and had a high prevalence of cardiovascular disease or risk factors.
The weighted mean (SD) age of wearable users was 48.7 (18.1) years.
55.3% (95% CI, 52.3%-58.2%) of wearable users were women.
62.3% (95% CI, 60.9%-63.7%) of wearable users had CVD or CVD risk factors.
The three survey cycles represented 254 million US adults in 2020, 258 million in 2022, and 262 million in 2024.
Methods
This study used data from three consecutive cycles of the Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS) spanning 2020 to 2024.
HINTS is described as a nationally representative, population-based survey of community-dwelling US adults.
There were 3,865, 6,252, and 7,278 HINTS participants across the 2020, 2022, and 2024 survey cycles, respectively.
Longitudinal trends were evaluated using the Rao-Scott χ2 test.
Outcomes included wearable use, daily utilization, willingness to share data, and actual sharing with clinicians.
What This Means
This research used three rounds of a large, nationally representative US survey (2020, 2022, and 2024) to track how Americans use wearable health devices—like smartwatches and fitness trackers—and whether they share that data with their doctors. The study found that the number of adults using wearables grew substantially, from about 30% in 2020 to about 41% in 2024. However, consistent daily use stayed relatively flat, with only about half of wearable owners using their device every day throughout the entire period.
Despite most wearable users saying they were willing to share their device data with a clinician, that willingness actually declined over time (from about 81% to 73%), and the gap between willingness and action remained very large. Actual data sharing with clinicians stayed persistently low, rising only slightly from roughly 14% to 19% over four years. Interestingly, people with higher digital literacy were more willing to share data but were not more likely to actually do so, suggesting that factors beyond technical comfort—such as lack of systems or workflows to facilitate sharing—may be limiting real-world data exchange.
This research suggests that while wearable technology is becoming more popular, its potential as a health care tool is not yet being realized. Simply owning a device does not translate to daily use or meaningful integration with clinical care. The findings point to a need for better tools, infrastructure, and clinical workflows to help patients use their wearables consistently and share the resulting health data with their care teams in a way that could meaningfully inform treatment decisions.
Pedroso A, Dhingra L, Aminorroaya A, Khera R. (2026). Wearable Devices and Data Sharing in the US.. JAMA network open. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2026.17733