Evaluating the impact of Apollo Neuro™ wearable on wellbeing in medical and pharmacy students: A preliminary prospective randomized controlled study.
Level 2 - randomized trial
Individual randomized controlled trial
PubMed 40816518 · doi:10.1016/j.amjmed.2025.07.045
What was done
A pilot randomized controlled trial evaluated the impact of the Apollo Neuro wearable device on stress and wellbeing among 66 medical and pharmacy students. Participants were randomized 1:1 to receive the active device or be placed on a waitlist control. Surveys were administered at baseline, 6 weeks, and 12 weeks, measuring outcomes via the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI-2), Medical Student Well-Being Index (MSWBI), Perceived Stress Scale, Brief Resilience Scale, and Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test-C (AUDIT-C).
What was found
At 12 weeks, participants using the device had statistically significant improvements compared to controls in burnout (MBI-2 total, emotional exhaustion, and depersonalization subscales) and MSWBI scores. No significant changes were found in resilience or alcohol use. The abstract reports no numerical values, effect sizes, or p-values.
Why it matters
Health professional students face high rates of burnout, and passive wearable neuromodulation could offer a lower-burden alternative to traditional time-intensive wellness programs if proven effective.
Limits
The sample size was small (n = 66) and limited to a single subpopulation of health professions students. The study used an unblinded waitlist control rather than a sham-device control, introducing significant risk of placebo and expectation bias for subjective survey endpoints. No numerical data or confidence intervals were provided in the abstract.
Cited by
- partial Clinical and real-world trials of the Apollo Neuro device demonstrate up to a 40% reduction in stress and anxiety.