The Mayo Clinic studied the heart monitor on the Apple watch and found the results wanting. Only about 15% of those whose watch reported an irregular heartbeat actually had one. Mayo feared such false positives can lead to unnecessary medical procedures and other problems. The Verge reported:
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| Credit: Wareable.com |
Heaton and the study team scanned patient health records at every Mayo Clinic site, including offices in Arizona, Florida, Wisconsin, and Iowa, for mentions of the term “Apple Watch” over a six-month period from December 2018 to April 2019. The window came just after Apple introduced a feature to detect abnormal heart rhythms and after publication of a study tracking how well the watches could detect atrial fibrillation.Mayo was none too keen about these new features:
They found records of 264 patients who said their Apple Watches flagged a concerning heart rhythm. Of that group, 41 explicitly mentioned getting an alert from their watch (others may have had an alert, but it wasn’t mentioned specifically in their health record). Half of the patients already had a cardiac diagnosis, including 58 who’d been previously diagnosed with atrial fibrillation. About two-thirds had symptoms, including lightheadedness or chest pain.
Only 30 patients in the study got a cardiac diagnosis after their doctors visit. Most of the concerning heart monitor data, then, were probably false positives, the study concluded. False positives, even though the patient ends up being healthy, can still cause problems: they can push patients to get unnecessary health care and cause stress and anxiety. Even people who don’t have symptoms, like some people in this study, may still feel the need to talk to a doctor about an abnormal flag on a device like an Apple Watch... Rest of article.
The FDA and Apple must carefully consider the unintended consequences of widespread direct-to-consumer screening for asymptomatic atrial fibrillation, including overutilization of healthcare resources owing to false positive screening results and use of screening tools by users in whom they have not been adequately studied.Kingfish note: Who ya gonna trust, Mayo or Apple?
12 comments:
My own experience with the Apple Watch has been positive. It measured a high Afib condition with my heart and the day after my Ablation my heart Afib dropped to normal......like it works! The watch has provided 3 or 4 Afib events for me in the months after my Ablation......I talked to my Doc and we talked future options. At this point it’s been since March 2018 since I have had an event! I am sold on the Watch.
Does Mayo show the world that am trendy? Does it allow me to define myself by my choice of consumer goods? Does Mayo provide a substitute for my lack of personality? Is Mayo a literal personality cult that hasn't innovated in a decade?
Has Mayo provided a quarter of stock market gains in the last 10 years?
I think my questions speak for themself.
I don’t know, 15% of people got diagnosed with a potentially deadly heart rhythm?
Atrial fib kills 158k ppl a year.
Morgan & Morgan
I still palpate my pulse and can tell when it's irregular. Been in A Fib before and undergone Cardioversion with return to Sinus. So far, nice and steady, confirmed with follow up EKG's. Cheaper as well.
Like Doom & Gloom Biden a negative story, like the above Mayo clinic story, attract clicks.
"Atrial fib kills 158k ppl a year." Are you sure of that number. I was under the impression, at least by what I've read on this blog, that only Covid kills just making A Fib an inconvenience.
I only need my watch to tell time.
I’m coming home Elizabeth.... o’ wait, it was just an email.
I'm sure you folks think it's perfectly okay to provide Silicon Valley with mountains of your biometric data.
Im sure it wont end in tears and misery for any of you!
So...doctors are performing medical procedures based on information provided by a $45 wrist watch?
"...may lead to unnecessary medical procedures."
'Atrial fib kills 158k ppl a year.'
Afib doesn't kill anybody.
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