Apple Watch makes it much easier to detect arrhythmia, study reveals

The Apple Watch continues to see praise for its health-related applications, with a new study outlining its usefulness in identifying atrial fibrillation in asymptomatic patients.

Apple's focus on health is evident across the company's product line. Alongside a dedicated Apple Health app, the iPhone maker continues to upgrade its various platforms with health-related features and hardware.

The Apple Watch, in particular, has gained a variety of useful capabilities over the years, from sleep apnea detection to electrocardiogram and photoplethysmograph functionality.

Apple's smartwatch has been credited with saving the lives of its users and even detecting undiagnosed atrial fibrillation. Now, as reported by 9to5mac, a newly released study has provided additional details about how useful the Apple Watch can be for identifying heart arrhythmias.

On Thursday, research from Amsterdam UMC outlined that smartwatches with ECG and PPG capabilities, like the Apple Watch, "improve the detection of atrial fibrillation in comparison with standard care."

The researchers behind the study reached this conclusion by analyzing data taken from 437 patients over the age of 65, all with an elevated risk of stroke. 219 patients wore an Apple Watch for 12 hours a day for six months, while 218 patients only received standard care.

After six months, 21 of the patients with an Apple Watch were diagnosed, with 57% of them showing no symptoms. Of the patients who received standard care, only 5 of them received a diagnosis, and all of them had clear symptoms. The results of the study were presented in London at the annual symposium of the European Society of Cardiology.

"Using smartwatches with PPG and ECG functions aids doctors in diagnosing individuals unaware of their arrhythmia, thereby expediting the diagnostic process," said Michiel Winter, cardiologist at Amsterdam UMC. "Our findings suggest a potential reduction in the risk of stroke, benefiting both patients and the healthcare system by reducing costs. This reduction would offset the initial cost of the device."

The advantages of wearing an Apple Watch are clear, with reports and studies like these serving as the perfect illustration of why that's the case. As the Apple Watch platform continues to evolve, we could see more accurate health predictions with the help of AI, including ChatGPT.