Apple Watch blood stress alert cannot substitute screening, examine reveals

WASHINGTON: An Apple Watch function to identify indicators of hypertension can’t reliably be used as an alternative of standard screening checks, based on new analysis.

People mustn’t depend on their watch to alert them to modifications of their blood stress as a result of danger of “false reassurance”, they stated, including folks ought to nonetheless have common blood stress checks utilizing a cuff.

Apple has a “hypertension (high blood pressure) notifications feature” which it says is “not intended to diagnose, treat or aid in the management of hypertension or other conditions such as blood clots, stroke, atrial fibrillation, congestive heart failure or high cholesterol”.

It states that not all folks with hypertension will obtain a notification and the Apple Watch can’t detect coronary heart assaults.

Instead, it says the function is designed to search for patterns of persistent hypertension. It does this by way of a coronary heart sensor and makes use of a 30-day analysis.

In the brand new examine, researchers from the University of Utah Health and the University of Pennsylvania, famous that the US Food and Drug Administration accepted the Apple Watch hypertension function to be used final yr.

Writing within the Journal of the American Medical Association, the researchers checked out Apple’s personal knowledge and examined what the real-world affect of this know-how would possibly appear to be.

“According to Apple’s reported test performance, 41.2% of individuals with undiagnosed hypertension would receive an alert for potentially having hypertension, and 58.8% would not,” the researchers stated.

“Among those without hypertension, 92.3% would not receive an alert and 7.7% would receive an inappropriate alert.”

The outcomes counsel “moderate evidence to rule in hypertension” and “weak evidence to rule out hypertension”, they stated.

Analysis within the real-world by the staff instructed that the absence of an alert is extra reassuring in youthful adults and considerably much less reassuring in older adults, who usually tend to undergo hypertension.

The staff concluded: “With more than 200 million Apple Watch users worldwide, the hypertension notification feature offers new opportunities to identify adults with undiagnosed hypertension, but with potential for hypertension misclassification as well.

“A large proportion of individuals unaware of their hypertension may be made aware.

“However, an even larger proportion of individuals with undiagnosed hypertension could receive no alert at all.

“Apple indicates that the feature is not intended to diagnose hypertension and is designed to prompt users to seek clinical evaluation if hypertension is suspected.

“However, false reassurance may discourage some individuals with undiagnosed hypertension from obtaining appropriate screening or engaging with the healthcare system, resulting in missed opportunities for early detection and treatment.”

The staff stated limitations embrace reliance on Apple’s sensitivity and specificity estimates, “which may not fully capture device performance”.

In an editorial on the problem, consultants together with from the Harvard college of public well being in Boston, wrote: “The main caveat of the hypertension notification feature’s intention to screen for hypertension is that 59% of individuals with undiagnosed hypertension wearing the Apple Watch will not be alerted.

“Given that screening tests are expected to be good at ruling out a disease, the absence of a notification could lead to false reassurance, deferred care, and delayed diagnosis.

“Thus, the hypertension notification feature’s current performance is not suitable for large-scale, reliable hypertension screening.”

Apple has been contacted for remark.

Professor Bryan Williams, chief scientific and medical officer on the British Heart Foundation (BHF), stated: “High blood pressure is known as the silent killer for good reason, as it is usually symptomless.

“Untreated, high blood pressure contributes to tens of thousands of preventable heart attacks and strokes in the UK each year.

“It’s estimated that up to five million people in the UK are living with undiagnosed high blood pressure.

“We need more opportunities for people to get their blood pressure checked quickly and easily to avoid more preventable heart attacks and strokes.

“Smart tech like this can be useful for people who want to keep a closer eye on various aspects of their health.

“The potential to alert about possible hypertension will also prompt wearers of this technology to get their blood pressure formally checked.

“But this analysis makes it clear that we should not rely on this type of wrist-worn technology alone to warn us if we have high blood pressure, as most people with undiagnosed high blood pressure in this analysis would not have received an alert.

“It’s crucial that people understand that this technology is not a replacement for getting your blood pressure checked with standard cuff-based devices.” – PA Media/dpa