Fewer than 1 in 5 Heart Disease Patients Use Wearables

June 15, 2023 - Published in JAMA Network Open, a new study shows that the portion of patients with or at risk of developing cardiovascular disease (CVD) who use wearable devices was minimal, indicating growing health disparities.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) describes CVD as the most common cause of death in the US, killing one person every 33 seconds.

As the development and application of wearable devices grow, they are increasingly used to treat CVD. But there is limited information surrounding their efficacy without creating disparities.

To assess data surrounding the relationship between sociodemographic factors and the use of wearable devices, a group of researchers conducted a population-based cross-sectional study. Using data from the Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS), this study focused on patients with or at risk of developing CVD.

The study indicated that the total US adult population is 247.3 million, 20.3 million of whom had CVD, and 134.9 million were at risk of developing CVD. Researchers scaled these numbers to the HINTS population. Overall, 9,303 patients with a mean age of 48.8 represented the total US adult population in the study. Of the study population, 933 had CVD, and 5,185 were at risk of developing CVD.

Self-reported CVD included a history of heart attack, angina, or congestive heart failure, while risk factors included hypertension, diabetes, obesity, and cigarette smoking. Researchers examined access to devices, the extent of use, and the level of health data sharing as measures.

Researchers found that CVD patients did not use wearables frequently. This data led them to hypothesize that 3.6 million US adults with CVD (17.7 percent) and 34.5 million at risk of developing CVD (25.5 percent) engaged with wearables. As a comparison, 29 percent of the total US population used wearables.

Among those at risk of developing CVD, research indicated that older age, lower education level, and lower household income correlated with lower use of wearables.

CVD patients who used wearables also used them less frequently than those at risk of CVD and the overall US population. Research indicated that 38 percent of adults with CVD used wearables daily. This was lower than the 48 percent of at-risk patients and the 49 percent of the total US population using wearables daily.

These findings allowed researchers to conclude that patients with CVD or at risk of developing the disease do not use wearables often. Further, efforts to ensure equity are needed, as current trends indicate potential disparities.

Previous studies have similarly indicated disparities surrounding wearable device use.

A JAMA Network Open study from April found that consumer-grade wearable device use varied based on social determinants of health (SDoH) among a pediatric population.

Fueled by suspicions surrounding biases related to wearables, this study reviewed how SDoH impacted their use. Researchers evaluated patients at the two-year (Y2) follow-up point of the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study.

The patient population was diverse in terms of race and ethnicity. When given the choice of wearing a Charge HR 2 Fitbit, 71.3 percent accepted, and the remaining 28.7 declined. While considering retention and wear time, researchers found that Black children generally did not wear devices as long as White children. The median device wear time was 400.7 hours across the total population, but the median for Black patients fell below 300 hours.

This finding indicated the need to further research disparities surrounding wearables use.