"Get input from them and see if a medical-grade option is your best bet before sinking money into a device.On the side of the Apple Watch Series 8 you'll find the familiar digital crown and side button, which are used in hand with the touchscreen to navigate the device.
"Make sure your doctor approves of the device you're using," says Martinez. If you're truly concerned about accurate heart rate measurements, you should definitely look into medical-grade options instead of relying solely on a smartwatch.
"This device is just basically an ECG, without the extras of the Apple Watch," says Martinez. "It's a good first start, but the Apple Watch is in no way a replacement for medical-grade devices."įor that, he suggests getting an AliveCor device, which is considered medical-grade. There's a variety of technologies that are stronger than others," says Martinez. "The short answer is be careful - not all smartwatch heart rate technology is created equal. Ultimately, if you're looking for a widely available consumer product that includes heart rate monitoring, but also has apps and other add-ons, then the Apple Watch is a decent option. The Apple Watch is not a medical-grade device For young people, this may lead to a higher frequency of false alarms and risk of overtreatment. Cardiologists point out that most people wearing smartwatches tend to be younger and healthier, and AFib is much more common in the older population. Still, some doctors have warned about the possibility of overdiagnosis with the ECG functionality in the Apple Watch. "The Apple Watch uses more sophisticated technology than Fitbits," Martinez says. The more recent Apple Watch Series 5 also includes the ECG functionality.įor reference, Fitbit doesn't feature the ECG functionality that newer Apple Watches (Series 4 and 5) incorporate, instead opting for their own LED light method. In fact, it received FDA clearance for its ECG monitoring functionality, making it one of the first direct-to-consumer ECG devices on the market. The Apple Watch Series 4 also incorporates built-in electrodes, which can measure the heart's electrical signals - like an ECG - when using the Heart Rate app or ECG app. Newer Apple Watch models include ECG functionality, but they may overdiagnose For atrial fibrillation, this has some promise, but further studies are needed to confirm." "It was more accurate in older patients than younger, and the accuracy for detecting atrial fibrillation was about 40%. "The study shows that it had fairly good sensitivity for detecting abnormal arrhythmia," says Martinez. Of 450 people who returned the patches, atrial fibrillation was confirmed in 153 people, or 34%. Participants began wearing the patches about 13 days after the notification, for about 6 days. During that period, if a person's Apple Watch (only Series 1, 2, and 3 were studied) detected an abnormal heart rate or rhythm, it sent out medical-grade electrocardiogram (ECG) patches to determine if the Apple Watch accurately identified an issue. The study recruited over 400,000 participants over an 8-month period to investigate the watch's irregular heart rhythm notification. The Apple Watch heart rate monitor may be accurate in certain casesĮarly Apple Watch models (Series 1, 2, and 3) rely on LED lights that detect the flow of blood through your arteries, according to Matthew Martinez, MD, FACC, a cardiologist and chair of the American College of Cardiology Sports and Exercise Council.Īpple explains further on its support page: "By flashing its LED lights hundreds of times per second, Apple Watch can calculate the number of times the heart beats each minute - your heart rate."Īccording to a 2019 study in The New England Journal of Medicine, the Apple Watch can be accurate for detecting atrial fibrillation, or an irregular heartbeat.
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