Patients with atrial fibrillation (AFib) that use wearables are more likely to use the healthcare system than their peers, according to a new study out of JAMA.

Researchers found that while patients using the wearables had comparable pulse rates to those not using the tech, they were more likely to undergo an ablation procedure than their peers.  

"Our cohort study is among the first studies to systematically characterize the use of wearable use among individuals with AF as a part of routine health care delivery. Individuals who used wearables were younger, healthier, and socioeconomically better off than those who did not use wearables. We found no difference in clinic-measured pulse rates between the 2 groups but higher health care use rates among individuals who used wearables," the authors of the study wrote.

TOP-LINE DATA

After using a matching method for the study, researchers found that the mean pulse rate was similar between the 125 patients using wearables (75.01) and the 500 not using the wearables (75.79).

However, those using wearables had a significantly higher composite use score of 3.66 of patients using wearables compared to 3.27. Ablation was significantly higher in patients using wearables (17.6%) compared to those not using them, at 7.4%.

METHODS

Researchers used a matching process for inclusion in the retrospective study. In order to be included, patients in the non-wearable group had to be seen by a clinician for Afib within "60 days of at least 1 of the encounters by a member of the using group."

Participants were assigned an index date that was day 0 of the analysis. Researchers defined this date as the earlier date that a note about the wearable was included in their health record, and for non-users, the date was defined as their last healthcare visit where an AFib code was used.

Participants that were not wearable users were then matched with those who used the wearables, with a "propensity score matching at a ratio of 4 to 1" using a logistic regression model. In total 125 individuals using wearables were included and 500 patients that did not use them.

BACKGROUND

Wearables are increasingly becoming a part of clinical research. One key example is the Apple Heart Study, a collaboration between Stanford, American Well, BioTelemetry and Apple, which focused on Apple Watch's role in detecting AFib. Last year researchers from the study found that while enrollment rates were high, engagement in the virtual study was low.

This isn't the first study done on the connection between health utilization and wearables. A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association suggested that Apple's abnormal pulse detection feature may be fueling unnecessary healthcare utilization.