MONDAY, Feb. 3, 2025 (HealthDay News) — The majority of U.S. adults use a device on a regular basis to monitor their heart health, but only one in four uses those data to have a conversation about their heart health with their doctor, according to the results of a survey released Jan. 22 by The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in Columbus.
The survey included web and telephone responses from 1,008 U.S. adults gathered in December 2024.
The results showed that nearly two-thirds of respondents use a device on a regular basis to monitor their heart health, including smartwatches (32 percent), portable blood pressure machines (31 percent), fitness apps (19 percent), or wearable fitness/movement trackers (13 percent). Of those who self-monitor, only one in four reported using those data in conversations with their doctor.
“These self-monitoring devices are really helpful to patients and their health care providers because they can potentially catch things early,” Laxmi Mehta, M.D., from The Ohio State University, said in a statement. “If patients are monitoring their blood pressure at home and notice it’s been going up over time, they may want to discuss it with their doctor sooner rather than waiting for their annual visit. Or they may capture some irregular heart rhythms on their devices, like atrial fibrillation, much sooner than would be diagnosed at the doctor’s office.”
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