More than half of Britons say a smartwatch makes them feel more stressed about their health, a new study has found.

The devices allow people with high blood pressure to monitor their blood pressure. People with type 2 diabetes can also use smartwatches to manage their blood sugar levels as an alert will be sent to their phones if they spike.

Other features include tracking steps, calories burned, fitness levels and sleep patterns.

However, a new survey shows that continuous surveillance makes users more worried. The market research company Mintel published a report in which it warns that there could be a decline in the quality of life of those who constantly monitor their health through devices.

Smartwatches are most popular among women aged 25 to 44, with an estimated quarter of the population owning them.

Joe Birch, senior technology and leisure analyst at Mintel, said: “Tracking health indicators in real time can inadvertently increase health concerns, rather than providing peace of mind.

“This has led to suggestions that smartwatch brands offer features that allow users to turn off constant alerts or provide a basic mode that periodically monitors health.

“While these devices offer valuable health insights, the continuous flow of data can overwhelm users, leading to stress and anxiety.”

Mintel has called on smartwatch brands such as Apple to encourage “digital detoxes” where users put away their technology for a period of time.

The report surveyed more than 2,000 smartwatch owners and found that women over the age of 55 were most likely to be affected by health-related stress.

Cecilia Mascolo, professor of mobile systems at the University of Cambridge, says that while smartwatches are useful tools, the element of notifying users about their health needs to change.

Professor Mascolo told The Telegraph: “The fact that we do not yet understand how useful this information can be to a person is simply because we are only seeing the tip of the iceberg of what we can do with this sensor data.

“Maybe we didn’t get it completely right, but I’m absolutely sure that this is a step forward.

“I strongly feel that these are useful technologies, a combination of this technology and perhaps the health psychology aspect of trying to deliver information in a certain way. We haven’t made it yet, probably, but we’ll get there.”