Fitness trackers could predict if you’ll have complications after surgery, new study shows

May 11, 2026

A new study highlighted by Cleveland.com reports that data from everyday fitness trackers, like step counts and heart rate, can help predict which patients are more likely to develop complications after surgery. Researchers analyzed activity data (for example, how many steps people took per day before an operation) and found that patients who were more active going into surgery had substantially lower odds of problems in the weeks and months afterward, even after accounting for how complex the surgery was and how sick the patients were. This suggests wearables can act as a simple, objective measure of “pre-surgery fitness” that traditional medical records may miss.

The approach uses off‑the‑shelf devices such as Fitbits to continuously track movement and sometimes vital signs, then links those data with surgical outcomes to build risk models. In one large dataset, patients who averaged more than about 7,500 steps a day before surgery had roughly half the risk of post‑operative complications compared with less active patients, pointing to a potential threshold clinicians could use when planning care. Other perioperative research mentioned in the same space shows that wearables are feasible for patients to use before and after surgery and that continuous monitoring of mobility and heart rate can help flag trouble early during recovery at home.

Clinicians quoted in related studies say the long‑term vision is to integrate fitness tracker data into electronic health records, so surgeons can spot high‑risk patients in advance and prescribe “prehab” (pre‑surgery conditioning) or closer post‑op monitoring. The article also notes that while consumer devices are not perfect and can have measurement biases, validation work in post‑surgical patients shows that modern trackers are generally accurate enough for heart rate and step counting to be clinically useful. Overall, the story frames fitness trackers as a low‑cost, widely available tool that could personalize surgical risk assessment and potentially prevent complications by prompting earlier interventions.

From your perspective as someone already using wearables for endurance sports, how do you see this kind of step and HR data translating into a practical “prehab” target before major surgery (for example, a steps‑per‑day goal or HR‑based fitness marker that would actually feel realistic to hit)? Cleveland.com