Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
69,042
40,084


Apple Watch users with an irregular heartbeat are not visiting doctors more often, but they are more likely to be treated with a heart procedure, a study has found (via The Verge).

apple-watch-series-6-product-red-back.jpg

The study examined 125 people with atrial fibrillation and a heart-monitoring wearable, such as the Apple Watch, who visited the University of Utah Health during a 90-day period, and compared them to a group of 500 people with the same condition and similar characteristics, but no wearable.

The results of the study showed that users with heart-monitoring wearables are not more likely to visit a doctor about a health condition with their heart. In spite of this, users with a wearable and a heart condition such as atrial fibrillation are more likely to undergo medical procedures.

Specifically, this group of wearable users was more likely to undergo an ablation, which is a medical procedure that seeks to restore a normal heartbeat.

It is not clear if the people in the study who wore wearables and had ablations had worse symptoms than the control group and so needed the treatment as a result, or if the wearables encouraged them to see a doctor and have the procedure sooner.

It may simply be the case that people with heart conditions who decide to wear an Apple Watch do so due to general concerns about monitoring their health. It is also possible that wearable users could see their device detecting an abnormal heartbeat more often and therefore they worry that their atrial fibrillation is getting worse, even when it is not.

The Apple Watch and similar health-monitoring wearables are the focus of a growing number of studies in the medical field, where they have been used to investigate COVID-19, frailty, cognitive health, heart failure, asthma, and more.

Article Link: Apple Watch Users More Likely to Have Medical Procedures on Their Heart, Study Finds
 
This does not make much sense. I am guessing it has to do with sharing heart data with doctors at regular appointments.
 
As this is MacRumors let me be the first to blame the Apple Watch, Tim Cook, Apple, and lefties in general for causing people who wear Apple Watches to require more medical procedures.

Twice my Apple Watch has notified me of a high heart rate while not exercising. I have seen my doctor and though no problem was identified he thought it was pretty handy that I got the notification, told me to keep an eye on that. It also reacted when I fell on some ice this past winter. Pretty amazing tool.
 
As a personal anecdote, my Apple Watch ( needlessly? ) put me in the OR. I have had very mild arrhythmia for a few decades. My Apple Watch's ECG caught an episode of V-tach, which I showed to my doctor. He sent me to a cardiologist, who then sent me to an electrophysiologist. He took one look at the ECG and scheduled me for a heart study with possible ablation. This resulted in a ~$15,000 procedure which discovered that my heart was just fine. They were unable to recreate the arrhythmia in the cath lab and sent me home.

So I suppose my Apple Watch helped me rule out a potentially fatal heart disorder, but in this instance, ignorance would have been just as good and considerably cheaper.

Screen Shot 2021-06-02 at 12.28.18 PM.png
 
People who can afford a relatively expensive economic-want device that monitors their heart, can also afford the repeated doctor, specialist, and surgeon procedures that lead to surgery on their heart.

The study is showing the improved (*edit* increased) medical outcomes of affluence in a user-pays-healthcare society.
 
Last edited:
Still early days. What Tim Cook has in mind is a device that could save tens of millions lives a year, incidentally becoming bigger than the iPhone as a revenue stream.
 
As a personal anecdote, my Apple Watch ( needlessly? ) put me in the OR. I have had very mild arrhythmia for a few decades. My Apple Watch's ECG caught an episode of V-tach, which I showed to my doctor. He sent me to a cardiologist, who then sent me to an electrophysiologist. He took one look at the ECG and scheduled me for a heart study with possible ablation. This resulted in a ~$15,000 procedure which discovered that my heart was just fine. They were unable to recreate the arrhythmia in the cath lab and sent me home.

So I suppose my Apple Watch helped me rule out a potentially fatal heart disorder, but in this instance, ignorance would have been just as good and considerably cheaper.

View attachment 1785787
what are you doing with an apple watch, but no health insurance?
 
The sample size is far too small to make such a generalisation. Really poor reporting by MR here
 
Not sure of what this article is really saying. That if one wears an Apple watch statistically there is more of a chance of having a procedure on your heart? Is that because of the popularity of the Apple Watch that the statistics are skewed?

It's saying that people who have an Apple Watch are more likely to get this type of heart procedure than those who don't in the control group. This could be due to a number of reason such as easier detection or demographics/health status of people who are buying an Apple Watch. There is nothing to indicate wearing an Apple Watch by itself causes you to be more likely to get an heart procedure.
 
As a personal anecdote, my Apple Watch ( needlessly? ) put me in the OR. I have had very mild arrhythmia for a few decades. My Apple Watch's ECG caught an episode of V-tach, which I showed to my doctor. He sent me to a cardiologist, who then sent me to an electrophysiologist. He took one look at the ECG and scheduled me for a heart study with possible ablation. This resulted in a ~$15,000 procedure which discovered that my heart was just fine. They were unable to recreate the arrhythmia in the cath lab and sent me home.

So I suppose my Apple Watch helped me rule out a potentially fatal heart disorder, but in this instance, ignorance would have been just as good and considerably cheaper.

View attachment 1785787
If a doctor orders a $15k procedure based on a 1 time isolated incident reported by a smart watch, then I think I'd want to see a different doctor, to me, it feels like ulterior motives than patient health and safety. I don't know how any doctor could use a 1 time Apple Watch reading as justification for any kind of surgery especially after being unable to replicate the anomaly using standard medical equipment. At the very least they would recommend regular at home monitoring using different equipment than an Apple Watch (as great as it is) or would want to see more than a singular reading no?
 
  • Like
Reactions: PC_tech and duervo
So I suppose my Apple Watch helped me rule out a potentially fatal heart disorder, but in this instance, ignorance would have been just as good and considerably cheaper.
In this instance the claim "ignorance is bliss" was correct only because there was nothing wrong. But for you to know there's nothing wrong, you can't be ignorant of the fact. Personally, I'd prefer to know.
 
  • Like
Reactions: jasonsewell
Let me translate the article back into epidemiological language

There was an increased odds (association) between wearing an Apple Watch in controls and heart ablation (sort of surgery) when compared to controls drawn from a cohort of atrial fibrillation patients. This association was very weak and likely to be the result of random chance when appropriately adjusted for multiple comparisons.
 
  • Like
Reactions: lake4096
The sample size is far too small to make such a generalisation. Really poor reporting by MR here
Full disclosure: I am am epidemiologist.

No it isn’t for the research papers conclusions. Case-control studies nested in cohorts (which was done here) are often reported with even lower numbers. The strength of the association is what matters - in this case it is pretty weak though.
 
As a personal anecdote, my Apple Watch ( needlessly? ) put me in the OR. I have had very mild arrhythmia for a few decades. My Apple Watch's ECG caught an episode of V-tach, which I showed to my doctor. He sent me to a cardiologist, who then sent me to an electrophysiologist. He took one look at the ECG and scheduled me for a heart study with possible ablation. This resulted in a ~$15,000 procedure which discovered that my heart was just fine. They were unable to recreate the arrhythmia in the cath lab and sent me home.

So I suppose my Apple Watch helped me rule out a potentially fatal heart disorder, but in this instance, ignorance would have been just as good and considerably cheaper.

View attachment 1785787
I had a reasonably similar experience, except in my case during my electrophysiology study they confirmed that I had Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which was corrected with an ablation. Very glad to have caught and dealt with it before it became a problem.
 
As a personal anecdote, my Apple Watch ( needlessly? ) put me in the OR. I have had very mild arrhythmia for a few decades. My Apple Watch's ECG caught an episode of V-tach, which I showed to my doctor. He sent me to a cardiologist, who then sent me to an electrophysiologist. He took one look at the ECG and scheduled me for a heart study with possible ablation. This resulted in a ~$15,000 procedure which discovered that my heart was just fine. They were unable to recreate the arrhythmia in the cath lab and sent me home.

So I suppose my Apple Watch helped me rule out a potentially fatal heart disorder, but in this instance, ignorance would have been just as good and considerably cheaper.

View attachment 1785787
Similar thing happened to me. I stopped wearing the Apple Watch altogether.
what are you doing with an apple watch, but no health insurance?
Apple Watch costs $400 health insurance costs more than that PER MONTH.
 
I still can't get over the fact that people have to pay to visit a Doctor. Very happy with the NHS in the UK
I agree. I'm Canadian and married an American. I had to have my hip replaced last year and with out insurance it would've cost me 63,000$. The guy who caused the accident opened his truck door without looking knocked me off my bike. I'm glad I was on my wife's health insurance. He didn't have car insurance. If you ever go to Louisiana make sure your health insurance and car insurance are paid up. I found out that numerous people in the state drive without car insurance. I miss my old hip lol
 
  • Like
Reactions: Splutterbug
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.