Mobile Health Advances in Physical Activity, Fitness, and Atrial Fibrillation

Abstract

The growing recognition that "health" takes place outside of the hospital and clinic, plus recent advances in mobile and wearable devices, have propelled the field of mobile health (mHealth). Cardiovascular disease and prevention are major opportunities for mHealth, as mobile devices can monitor key physiological signals (e.g., physical activity, heart rate and rhythm) for promoting healthy behaviors, detecting disease, and aid in ongoing care. In this review, the authors provide an update on cardiovascular mHealth by highlighting recent progress and challenges with mobile and wearable devices for assessing and promoting physical activity and fitness, and for monitoring heart rate and rhythm for the detection and management of atrial fibrillation.

Physician attitudes towards—and adoption of—mobile health

“…[7][8][9][10] When fully realized, mHealth has the potential to reduce costs, disseminate health information, extend care to resource-limited settings, and provide continuous information on individual biometrics to precisely diagnose and intervene in both acute and chronic disease. [11][12][13][14][15] Yet, for physicians, the majority of these mobile apps and devices remains a novelty. There exists a paucity of guidelines for using the collected data for medical purposes.…”

Recommendations for the organization of electrophysiology and cardiac pacing services during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…We recommend proper documentation of remote device follow-ups according to local regulations. [9]. These devices are able to generate single-lead ECG recordings that can be exported into a PDF and emailed to the physician's office.…”

Time trends in use of the CHADS2 and CHA2 DS2 VASc scores, and the geographical and specialty uptake of these scores from a popular online clinical decision tool and medical reference

“…Specifically, it's typically tracked using an "electronic cookie" that's managed by Google Analytics. 1…”

“…Medical decision making is increasingly influenced by electronic-health (e-health) information technology approaches, including mHealth assessments of health parameters, or the use of decision aids and online risk calculators (1). The impact of ultilisation of such ehealth techniques over time have not been previously described.…”