Health Technology
Don’ t over-rely on smart wristbands, watches for true heart readings
By Health Day
Watch-like wristbands that monitor heart rate may not offer true readings during exercise, a small study finds.
Researchers at the Cleveland Clinic’ s Heart and Vascular Institute tested four different wrist-worn heart rate monitors.
“ All worked pretty well at rest,” said Dr. Marc Gillinov, the Cleveland Clinic cardiac surgeon who led the experiment.“ But as people exercised, the accuracy diminished.”
None of the four devices achieved the accuracy of a chest strap monitor. In treadmill tests, the Apple Watch and Mio Fuse were the most accurate.
The other two devices fell short: Basis Peak, which is no longer being manufactured, overestimated heart rate during moderate exercise, and Fitbit Charge HR underestimated heart rate during more vigorous exercise, the study found.
Intel Corp. issued a safety recall last summer due to incidents of the Basis Peak overheating, causing burns or blisters on the skin. Intel and its Basis Science Inc. unit urge people to stop using the device and return it for a full refund.
In a statement, Fitbit defended its“ PurePulse” technology, saying it performs to industry standards for wrist-based optical heart rate monitors, with an average absolute error of less than 6 beats per minute( bpm) and an average error of less than 6 percent.
“ Fitbit devices were tested against properly calibrated industry devices like an EKG chest strap across the most popular activities performed worldwide, including walking, running, biking, elliptical and more,” the company said.
For Fitbit, the findings follow other disappointing reports on its products. Earlier this month, a report in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology found that fitness trackers, including one marketed by Fitbit, fail to boost activity levels enough to improve health.
Fitbit said its trackers“ are not intended to be medical devices.”
But, the Cleveland Clinic team noted that cardiac patients increasingly rely on wrist-worn monitors to gauge heart rate during rehabilitation and exercise.
These watch-like devices retail from roughly $ 70 to several hundred dollars, based on prices quoted online.
Dr. Mitesh Patel is an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania’ s Perelman School of Medicine in Philadelphia. He studies the impact of technology-based interventions on behavior but was not involved in the new analysis.
Despite growing interest in so-called wearables to measure heart rate, there has not been much evaluation of their accuracy, he noted.
“ For the general consumer, wearable devices may still be able to give them a general sense of their heart rate trends,” Patel said.“ However, further study is
44 November-December 2016