People Don't Use Tech When Tracking Health Issues; New Survey Released

When it comes to health issues, technology isn't the preferred method of recording them. Nearly seven in 10 adults say that they're tracking weight, diet, exercise routines or some medical symptom for themselves or a loved one without the aid of modern technology. In fact, many are just keeping track in their heads, according to a new survey.

The survey, which was released by the Pew Research Center, was the first of its kind to look at measuring health data tracking. It involved 3,014 adults across the U.S. who were contacted by either landline telephones or cell phone. A whopping 49 percent said that they just remembered their statistics in their heads, while 34 percent said that they tracked health issues using a notebook or journal. Only 21 percent said that they used technology--whether it was a spreadsheet, website, app or device to monitor health numbers.

These findings have shown that people may not be as technologically precise in their health tracking as some once thought. However, it also shows that there is a large market that technology developers could fill--assuming they can convince consumers to switch from pen and paper. As of fall 2012, more than 500 companies were developing new health management tools, according to the New York Times. This marks a 35 percent increase from January 2012. Currently, there are 13,000 health and fitness apps available on the market.

While these apps are on the market, though, it may take more than having them available to make journal-users switch over. The survey found that pencil and paper was dominant when it came to recording health issues. This presents a huge challenge to tech developers who may want to cultivate this market.