Wearables to Detect Heart Disease: Patients Most at Risk Less Likely to Use them

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Dr. Dhingra

Lovedeep Singh Dhingra, MBBS
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Cardiovascular Data Science (CarDS) Lab
Yale School of Medicine

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?

Response: Wearable devices are shown to have multiple health-related features, including heart rate and activity monitoring, ECG tracing, and blood pressure monitoring.

In our analyses of the nationally-representative Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS), we discovered that patients with and at risk of cardiovascular disease are less likely to use wearables. Older patients, patients with lower education, and patients with lower incomes are less likely to use wearables. Also, among adults with access to wearables, patients with cardiovascular disease use their devices less frequently as compared to the overall population.

MedicalResearch.com: What should readers take away from your report?

Response: At the Cardiovascular Data Science (CarDS) Lab at Yale, we wanted to understand the patterns of wearable uptake among US adults. Our study shows that patients with or at risk of heart disease, who could benefit most from using wearables, are less likely to use them. Wearables can play a key role in developing innovative public health strategies for the screening and management of cardiovascular disease. We should explore supporting wearables as health devices to ensure that their distribution in the population is fair and equitable.

MedicalResearch.com: What recommendations do you have for future research as a results of this study?

Response: The lower use of wearables in patients with known worse outcomes can lead to an increase in disparities in health outcomes. Our findings highlight the need for supporting innovative technologies as health devices so they can reach all demographic subgroups. Further research should be conducted to explore the reasons for the existing disparities and solutions for a fairer distribution of wearables in the population. Large, national surveys should include questions about access to health technology including mobile health (m-Health) and wearable devices.

Any disclosures? The funding was supported by grants awarded to Dr. Rohan Khera, the Principal Investigator of the CarDS Lab at Yale. These include support from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health (under award K23HL153775) and the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation (under the award, 2022060) awarded to Dr. Khera.

Citation:

AHA 2022 SESSION TITLE: WEARABLE DEVICES TO IMPROVE CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE OUTCOMES
Abstract 15333: Use of Wearable Devices by Patients With and At-Risk for Cardiovascular Disease in the United States: A Nationally Representative Study
Lovedeep S Dhingra,Arya Aminorroaya, Evangelos Oikonomou, Arash Aghajani Nargesi and Rohan Khera
Originally published30 Oct 2022Circulation. 2022;146:A15333

https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/abs/10.1161/circ.146.suppl_1.15333

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Last Updated on November 9, 2022 by Marie Benz MD FAAD