What is the trend?
The trend value tells you whether your measurements tend to go up, go down, or stay about the same over time.
- The arrow shows the direction: up means increasing, down means decreasing.
- The number next to it shows how much the value changes on average per day. Example: „↓ -1.1“ means the value is dropping by about 1.1 points per day on average.
- The percentage in parentheses (R²) describes how reliable this trend is. A value of 64% means: there is a fairly high probability that the displayed trend is real. The more measurements available to calculate it, the more reliable the trend becomes. If its under 50%, no trend is shown because the result wouldnt be meaningful enough.
In short: The trend summarizes your past measurements for the chosen display period and shows whether a value has been moving up, down, or hardly changed over time.
Imagine you regularly measure your blood pressure. Each single measurement can be a little higher one time, a little lower another time depending on how you feel that day, stress, or how rested you are. That makes it hard to see at a glance whether your blood pressure is really changing.
The trend value helps: it smooths out the fluctuations and shows whether your blood pressure is overall rising, falling, or staying stable over time.
This lets you see whether your blood pressure is moving in a desired direction in the long term for example, whether a treatment or lifestyle change is taking effect.
If no trend is shown, there can be several reasons:
- Insufficient statistical strength (R² value)
For a trend to be shown, the calculation must reach a minimum level of reliability. If the statistical strength (R²) is below 50%, the system hides the trend. Reason: the direction would be too uncertain and could be misleading. - Measurements without a clear trend
If your blood pressure measurements move a lot up and down and dont form a clear upward or downward line, the calculation wont produce a stable trend. Its like a scale that sometimes shows a bit more and sometimes a bit less without a clear pattern over time. - Measurement period too short
A trend needs a sufficient time span with measurements. Even if there are many values but only within a few days, the basis is too small to show a reliable development.
When is the R² value below 50%?
The R² value tells you how well the trend line represents reality. A value of 100% means: all measurements lie perfectly on a line. A value of 0% means: the measurements are completely irregularly distributed.
A value below 50% occurs when the values may show a rough direction but also include many fluctuations or outliers. Then the straight line only fits the actual measurements moderately well. That doesnt mean your measurements are useless just that the fluctuations are large enough to make the trend statistically less clear.
A value below 50% occurs when the values may show a rough direction but also include many fluctuations or outliers. Then the straight line only fits the actual measurements moderately well. That doesnt mean your measurements are useless just that the fluctuations are large enough to make the trend statistically less clear.
