Health IT, Startups

BioBeats stress assessment app is just one part of digital health’s stress subsector

An upcoming randomized controlled trial of BioBeats' stress assessment app will have around 700 corporate users and the trial will follow a cluster randomised controlled trial design, according to co-founder Dr David Plans.

BioBeats Hear and Now appBioBeats, a digital health company that claims to take biometric data from wearables and use it to measure stress levels, offered a glimpse of its plans to do randomized controlled trials for a couple of its apps following its fundraise.

CEO and Co-founder Dr David Plans said its Hear and Now app in iTunes app store will be officially launched in late Spring following a public beta test.

“The current [randomized controlled trial] will have around 700 corporate users and the trial will follow a cluster randomised controlled trial design,” Plans said in an emailed response to questions.

Plans added that in its current pilot programs with AXA Strategic Investors, one of three investors that took part in the fundraise, BioBeats is working with an independent research group to conduct randomized controlled trials to establish validity for its algorithms for machine learning and its app.

In addition to the direct-to-consumer market, the company also provides its app for employer wellness programs and providers.

Stress and fatigue have attracted a lot of interest in the digital health space because these are things so many people ensure and seek ways to relieve. They not only can affect job performance, but can also have a detrimental effect on health and make it tougher to manage chronic conditions. Lifestyle and stress management apps accounted for nearly one-quarter of 26, 864 consumer wellness apps , according to a report from the Institute for Healthcare Informatics published last year.

Although several digital health companies have made various claims as to the effectiveness of products to address stress and fatigue from Muse’s and THYNC meditation headbands to companies such as ShareCare self-help apps, plenty of pharma and healthcare groups are exploring ways to help people cope as well.

Last year, meQuilibrium attracted a new round of funding for a stress relief program aimed at employers. It gives participants a stress assessment questionnaire. Through a booit t camp helps users rethink how they resolve common sources of stress in the office.

Earlier this year, Pfizer said its consumer healthcare division would launch a healthcare accelerator targeting stress, among other areas, in collaboration with education company, Galvanize. Oxygen Plan at Mayo Clinic’s Business Accelerator developed a stress assessment app.

 

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