 |
| Wearable devices cause health concern for patients |
Wearable devices such as smart watches are useful tools in cardiology because they can help clinicians educate patients and give researchers access to data on health trends. But it does more harm than good for some patients.
A year after she was diagnosed with atrial fibrillation (a heart disease that causes an irregular heartbeat), a 70-year-old woman using a smartwatch caused a new health problem.
Although there were no symptoms of anxiety, the patient still felt anxious and worried about the notifications on the watch. In one year, she made 916 EKG records with her device.
The patient is no stranger, said Lindsey Roseman, assistant professor of medicine in the division of cardiology at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, and described the situation in a new research paper.
"This is just one example of a pattern that can be seen in a cardiology clinic," she added. Patients with arrhythmia or palpitations come to the clinic with a large number of files containing data from the smartwatch.
Mobile devices are very useful, Rothman said. However, at the same time, it can have unexpected effects in some patients as wearable devices create and perpetuate this fear.
Some problems can arise from continuous, on-demand access to health information. Wearable devices can create this type of symptom monitoring.
Rothman also noted that many patients are concerned about harmless readings such as:
Wearable devices cause health concern for patients
These results were misinterpreted as potential risks and prompted them to use the device more frequently. Such is the case with this 70-year-old man. Each time she receives a notification, her EKG usage will be updated.
Doctors may find it difficult to deal with the huge amount of information that is generated when patients are constantly checking their heartbeats.
It can also weaken the relationship between doctors and patients. The patient may feel that there is a problem. However, doctors may not see a need to change treatment.
There may be differences between patients' experiences, what they perceive to be dangerous, and health care providers' practices, Rothman said.
It is not known how many patients may have this type of anxiety disorder or what risk factors may make a person more susceptible to this type of anxiety disorder.
Rothman hopes to gain a better understanding of how this fear affects patients' health and quality of life. When these patterns cause people to seek medical attention unnecessarily.
The possibility of a person experiencing health problems while using a mobile device does not detract from the potential benefits. But doctors and tech companies need to address this problem.
They need to work together to develop better patient education information about how people use the devices and how to interpret that data. Today, information about health data from technology companies is often complex.