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MEDTECH Although the probability of receiving an irregular pulse notification was low, a smartwatch app shows promise in atrial fibrillation detection, paving way for broader applications.
A study in 2019 explored the potential of a smartwatch application on Apple iPhones in identifying atrial fibrillation among users. The study employed a siteless, pragmatic design, leveraging user-owned devices for large-scale monitoring and analysis.
Study Design
- The study recruited 419,297 participants over an 8-month period.
- Participants, who reported not having atrial fibrillation, used a smartphone app for monitoring.
- If the app detected a possible atrial fibrillation, an ECG patch was mailed to the participant for further analysis.
Key Findings
- 0.52% of participants received notifications of irregular pulse.
- Among those who returned the ECG patches, 34% were found to have atrial fibrillation.
- The positive predictive value of the app was 0.84 for observing atrial fibrillation on the ECG simultaneously with a subsequent irregular pulse notification.
HCN Medical Memo
Atrial fibrillation is the most commonly diagnosed clinically significant cardiac arrhythmia and affects approximately 6 million people in the United States.
More on Atrial Fibrillation (Afib)
