Starting today, sleep apnoea notifications come to Apple Watch, adding to the many ways Apple Watch acts as an intelligent guardian for users’ health. Additionally, AirPods Pro 3 provide a clinically validated Hearing Test feature for users to test their hearing levels in the comfort of their own home.2
Sleep is an important area of health as it impacts a person’s overall physical and mental wellbeing. Sleep apnoea is a prevalent disorder in which breathing momentarily stops during sleep, preventing the body from getting enough oxygen. The condition is estimated to impact more than 1 billion people worldwide, and in most cases, goes undiagnosed. If left untreated, it can have important health consequences over time, including increased risk of hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and cardiac issues.
Breathing Disturbances is an innovative new Apple Watch metric that uses the accelerometer to detect small movements at the wrist associated with interruptions to normal respiratory patterns during sleep. Every 30 days, Apple Watch will analyse breathing disturbance data and notify users if it shows consistent signs of moderate to severe sleep apnoea so they can speak to their doctor about next steps, including potential diagnosis and treatment.
For more informed conversations with their healthcare providers, users can export a PDF that shows when sleep apnoea may have occurred, three months of breathing disturbance data, and additional information. Educational articles are also available within the Health app to help users learn more about sleep apnoea.
The sleep apnoea notification algorithm was developed using advanced machine learning and an extensive data set of clinical-grade sleep apnoea tests. The feature was then validated in a clinical study — unprecedented in size for sleep apnoea technology. In the clinical validation study, every participant identified by the algorithm had at least mild sleep apnoea.
Because overall quality of sleep is important, Breathing Disturbances can also be used to assess restfulness of sleep. Breathing Disturbances can be influenced by alcohol, medications, sleep position, and more. Users can view their nightly Breathing Disturbances in the Health app, where they are classified as elevated or not elevated, and can be viewed over a one-month, six-month, or one-year period.
Hearing loss often worsens gradually, leaving many people unaware that they may be living with the condition. To give users even more insights into hearing health, Apple is introducing an intuitive, clinical-grade hearing test based on the standard clinical approach called pure-tone audiometry that users can take themselves with their AirPods Pro and a compatible iPhone or iPad.
Users can take the convenient test in about five minutes from the comfort of their own home. The Hearing Test feature leverages advanced acoustic science and provides users with an interactive experience. When a user completes the test, they will see an easy-to-understand summary of their results, including a number representing hearing loss in each ear, a classification, and recommendations. The results, which include an audiogram, are stored privately and securely in the Health app, and can be shared with a healthcare provider to have more informed conversations.
The Hearing Test builds on learnings from the Apple Hearing Study and was developed using large-scale, real-world data.