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