Tech Wearables

These days, many people have smartphones, smartwatches, activity recorders and various apps that they use to measure their heart rate and activity.

Some patients report that using a wearable is a step they can take to help stay on top of their heart health. But it’s important to talk with your care team about whether a wearable would be helpful to use in addition to another device, as well as how to use and understand the information you get. The monitors described in this section are what your heart care team uses to diagnose or rule out an arrhythmia.

Your care team also doesn’t have access to heart activity picked up by a wearable unless you share it. In this way, wearables have more limited usefulness. Any abnormal finding on a wearable would need to be confirmed with a standard ECG or added heart rhythm monitoring. Sometimes, using them can lead to false alerts, additional workup and tests, or perhaps even something being missed.

For more information, visit CardioSmart.org/Wearables.