Association Between Digital Biomarkers of Health and Anxiety: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

TL;DR

This study reviews whether digital biomarkers from wearables are linked to anxiety, finding no strong connection with sleep metrics but some links to physical activity and heart rate.

Contribution

First systematic review and meta-analysis examining the association between wearable-derived digital biomarkers and anxiety.

Findings

Meta-analyses found no significant associations between sleep metrics and anxiety.

Lower physical activity and higher heart rate were associated with greater anxiety symptoms.

Machine learning models using wearable data alone showed better performance when combined with other data sources.

Abstract

Digital biomarkers are gaining interest as proxy markers for mental health, as they enable passive and continuous data collection. However, the association between digital biomarkers of health and anxiety, both generalized anxiety disorder and anxiety symptoms, remains unknown.

This systematic review and meta-analysis examined the association between digital biomarkers of health obtained from wrist-worn wearables and anxiety in adults.

Systematic literature searches were conducted across 6 databases, including unpublished gray literature. The final search was done on September 21, 2025. Cross-sectional or longitudinal studies investigating the association between digital biomarkers from wrist-worn wearables and anxiety were eligible. Studies using inferential statistics or machine learning methods were both eligible. Studies were excluded if participants received diagnoses of neurodegenerative disorders or physical health conditions. Two risk-of-bias tools were used: the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute assessment tool for inferential statistical studies, and the modified version of the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies-2 for machine learning studies. Whenever possible, effect sizes were combined across studies, for each digital biomarker of health separately, using random-effects meta-analyses. Sensitivity analyses were performed to assess whether results differed according to anxiety type (state or trait) and age group. Otherwise, studies were synthesized narratively.

A total of 44 studies from 42 articles were eligible. Among these, 36 studies used inferential statistical approaches for analysis (21 reporting sleep characteristics, 8 reporting physical activity, 2 reporting heart rate variability, and 5 reporting more than 1 type), and 8 studies used machine learning approaches. Sample size ranged from 17 to 170,320. Meta-analyses on 4 sleep metrics found no associations: sleep efficiency (Fisher z=–0.07, 95% CI –0.14 to 0.002; P=.06; PI –0.19 to 0.05), wake after sleep onset (Fisher z=0.13, 95% CI –0.04 to 0.30; P=.11; PI –0.15 to 0.41), total sleep time (Fisher z=0.009, 95% CI –0.01 to 0.03; P=.28; PI –0.02 to 0.03), and sleep onset latency (Fisher z=0.04, 95% CI –0.07 to 0.15; P=.08; PI –0.19 to 0.27). Qualitative syntheses revealed that lower physical activity levels and higher heart rate were associated with greater anxiety symptoms. Machine learning studies using wrist-worn wearable data alone showed varied performance, with predictive performance improving when wearable data were combined with other data sources.

This is the first review to synthesize evidence from inferential statistical (mostly fair quality) and machine learning studies examining association between wearable-derived digital biomarkers and anxiety. Meta-analyses found no associations between sleep metrics and anxiety. Although based on limited studies, lower physical activity levels and elevated heart rate were associated with greater anxiety symptoms. Digital biomarkers may be more useful when integrated with other data sources (eg, self-report and clinical data) rather than used as stand-alone screening tools.

PROSPERO CRD42023409995; https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/view/CRD42023409995

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