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Results of Survey of A-Fib Patients and Wearable Devices
Michele Straube
In the spring of 2019, Michele Straube (who was cured of her A-Fib in 2010), conducted a survey of A-Fib patients about consumer wearable technology and apps designed to collect and share a patient’s cardiac data in real-time. The survey was completed by 315 A-Fib patients.
Read our interview with Michele in August 2020 who shares her insights and conclusions about the survey data.
Results of Survey of A-Fib Patients and Wearable Devices
Q1 The Survey Introduction; completed surveys: 315
Q2: Which type of AFib do you suffer from?
- Paroxysmal (>55% — more than half)
- Persistent (~13%)
- Permanent (~8%)
- No longer in AFib (~15%)
- Other (~7%, variations on the above themes)
Q3: How long have you been diagnosed with AFib?
- Less than 1 year (10%)
- 1-2 years (~22%)
- 3-5 years (~25%)
- More than 5 years (~39%, plus ~4% other)
Q4: Do you regularly use any of these wearable/portable devices/apps to provide you with AFib-related information?
- Handheld (portable) ECG/EKG monitor (~47% — almost half)
- Wristband HR monitor (~32%)
- Wristband ECG/EKG monitor (~15%)
- Lead- and wire-free event monitor (~3%)
- No, don’t use any devices (~13%)
- Other (15%) – BP monitor, implanted loop monitor, pacemaker, etc.
Q5: Brands
- Alivecor/Kardia: 150 (almost half)
- Apple Watch (some version): 62 (20%)
- Fitbit/Garmin (some version) 56 (~19%)
- Ziopatch: 6 (~2%)
- Others: ~40 other separate brands
Q6: What made you decide to regularly use the wearable/portable device/app?
- Prescribed by my doctor (~10%)
- Personal decision (~73%)
- Be informed / peace of mind / decide about meds (101, one-third)
- ID “silent” AF episodes / document AFib to doctor when not in office (60, 20%)
- Reduce ER visits / decide whether to contact doctor (24, ~8%)
- Prevent overdoing it during exercise (18, ~6%)
Q7: If you do use a device/app, which AFib-related information do you find valuable?
- HR – instantaneous reading (~75%)
- Heart rhythm (~71%)
- HR – trends over time (~48%)
- ECG/EKG (~44%)
- HR variability (~35%)
- Sleep data (from CPAP and other device) (~30%)
- BP (20%)
- Oxygen saturation (10%)
Q8: Does having AFib-related information from your device/app change your behavior? How?
- No, does not change behavior (100, almost one-third)
- Yes, does change behavior (a little over two-third)
- Actions to end/prevent AFib (85, ~28%)
- “Emotional comfort blanket” / reduced anxiety (45, ~15%)
- Modify meds (24, ~8%)
- How fast to get to ER, contact doctor (14, ~5%)
- Makes me panic / become obsessed with HR (7, ~2.5%)
Q9: Do you share any of the data with your doctor? How? What does doctor do with it?
- Yes: 177 (more than half)
- No: 87 (~30%)
- What share?
- Rhythm strip (108, one-third)
- HR trends / HR spikes (21 (~7%)
- times / length in AFib (20, ~7%)
- Summaries / trends (14, ~5%)
- Own charts analyzing info (8, ~3%)
- How?
- In person (93, almost one-third)
- Email (61, 20%)
- Automatic access (18, ~6%)
- What does doctor do with it?
- Diagnosed with AFib from device data (5)
- Doctor not interested (30, ~10%)
- Decide what treatment (19, ~7%)
- Pleased for additional info (15, ~5%)
Q10: Think about the AFib-related information you wish you could get from a device/app.
- What would you like someone to design for you?
- Some things asked for already exist—may need to do better education/ marketing
- ID any arrhythmia / name type of arrhythmia (51, ~16%)
- Auto/continuous AF monitoring / 24/7 event recorder (37, ~12%)
- Alert when in AFib (32, ~11%)
- Greater accuracy / fewer “possible”, “unclassified”, “indeterminate” readings (28, ~10%)
- All-in-one watch (ECG/EKG, HR, HRV, BP, oximeter, sleep) (20, ~7%)
- Less bulky, cheaper, easier to read (18, ~6%)
- Greater patient access to device data / automatic interpretation / show trends (18, ~6%)
- How would this feature/information improve your quality of life and/or change your behavior?
- Inform treatment decisions (55, ~18%)
- “Knowledge is power,” peace of mind (35, ~12%)
- Cause and effect / look for triggers, patterns (18, ~6%)
Q11: Is there anything else you’d like to share with the Heart Rhythm 2019 audience?
- Complaints about specific devices
- Have insurance cover cost of devices
- Educate doctors about the existence and value of these devices
- Power to the patient
- “Anyone with arrhythmias should be assigned one of these devices”
- “We need full access to what is happening in our bodies so we can make informed decisions and be partners in our care with doctors”
End of survey and results
Go to our interview with Michele Straube about her survey conclusions.
If you find any errors on this page, email us. Y Last updated: Thursday, August 6, 2020
