Accepted for/Published in: Journal of Medical Internet Research
Date Submitted: Sep 1, 2022
Open Peer Review Period: Sep 1, 2022 - Oct 27, 2022
Date Accepted: Nov 15, 2022
(closed for review but you can still tweet)
Accuracy and Systematic Biases of Heart Rate Measurements by Consumer-Grade Fitness Trackers in Postoperative Patients: Prospective Clinical Trial
Background:
Over the recent years, technological advances of wrist-worn fitness trackers heralded a new era in the continuous monitoring of vital signs. So far, these devices have primarily been used for sports.
Objective:
However, for using these technologies in health care, further validations of the measurement accuracy in hospitalized patients are essential but lacking to date.
Methods:
We conducted a prospective validation study with 201 patients after moderate to major surgery in a controlled setting to benchmark the accuracy of heart rate measurements in 4 consumer-grade fitness trackers (Apple Watch 7, Garmin Fenix 6 Pro, Withings ScanWatch, and Fitbit Sense) against the clinical gold standard (electrocardiography).
Results:
All devices exhibited high correlation (r≥0.95; P<.001) and concordance (rc≥0.94) coefficients, with a relative error as low as mean absolute percentage error <5% based on 1630 valid measurements. We identified confounders significantly biasing the measurement accuracy, although not at clinically relevant levels (mean absolute error<5 beats per minute).
Conclusions:
Consumer-grade fitness trackers appear promising in hospitalized patients for monitoring heart rate.
ClinicalTrial:
ClinicalTrials.gov NCT05418881; https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT05418881
Citation
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