Association of Wearable Device Use With Pulse Rate and Health Care Use in Adults With Atrial Fibrillation
By Libo Wang; Kyron Nielsen; Joshua Goldberg; et al.
Patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) who use wearable devices, an increasing part of health care delivery, are more likely to use the health care system than those with similar pulse rates who did not use wearables, according to new research. The retrospective, propensity-matching cohort study included 16,320 patients with AF: 348 who used commercially available wearables with pulse rate or rhythm evaluation capabilities and 15,972 individuals did not use them. The baseline characteristics for patients who used wearables, compared with those who did not use them, showed they were younger, healthier, less socioeconomically deprived, and had a lower mean Charlson Comorbidity Index score.
Researchers then identified 125 patients who used wearables and matched them with 500 patients who did not use the devices. After matching, the mean pulse rate was similar between the two groups, but the mean composite use score — which included evaluation and management, ablation, cardioversion, telephone encounters, and number of rate or rhythm control medication orders — was higher among those using wearables. In particular, researchers noted a significant increase in use of ablation among wearables users, with a rate of 17.6% vs. 7.4% among patients not using them. "This study's finding suggests that wearable use among patients with AF is associated with increased health care use and support the need for randomized clinical trials to measure the impact of wearables on health outcomes and use among patients with AF," the authors conclude.
Read more on JAMA Network Open.