The iPhone and Apple Watch could be used as an alternative to personal clinical assessments of weakness in cardiovascular patients, new data suggest.
According to a study published in PLoS One on Wednesday, Apple’s iPhone and Apple Watch could allow healthcare providers to assess the speed of heart disease patient sensitivity through on-board sensors, as well as an app-based version of the six-minute walking test – a traditional assessment based on clinic on person action. comas.
The study was conducted by Stanford University and funded by Apple. It compared the performance of a traditional walking test with an in-clinic version measured by iPhone and Apple Watch sensors, as well as a walk-through test performed remotely via an app. It also included passively collected activity data.
Based on the findings, the app-based walking test could accurately diagnose patient weakness. However, there was a slight decrease in accuracy when the test was performed at home. Researchers attribute that to non-clinical variability, rather than anything wrong with Apple’s sensory series.
A guided walking test resulted in instrumental data that could assess weakness with 90% sensitivity and 85% specificity. In the home trials, these numbers dropped to 83% sensitivity and 60% specificity.
Although the tolerant activity data were slightly less reliable than the home walking test, the researchers suggest that each method could support the remote study of elderly cardiovascular patients.
“In this study, we showed that device-based smart measurements, including both 6MWT and passively collected activity data, provide clinically accurate and meaningful insights about potential. action in patients with [cardiovascular disease], “wrote the researchers.
The study looked at 110 patients with Veterans Affairs with an average age of 68.9 years. All but one were male. Among them, 85% had hip tolerance, 35% had diabetes, 21% had aortic stenosis, 15% had atrial fibrillation, and 4% had heart failure.
The study followed a previous study by the same team in 2018. That study focused on measuring the accuracy of the iPhone’s step-by-step accuracy.