The following is a summary of “Characteristics and Attitudes of Wearable Device Users and Nonusers in a Large Health Care System,” published in the December 2023 issue of Cardiology by Venn et al.

The WATCH‐IT (Wearable Activity Tracking for Comprehensive Healthcare‐Integrated Technology) study investigated the prevalence and perceptions of consumer wearable device use among adults receiving longitudinal primary or ambulatory cardiovascular care within the Mass General Brigham healthcare system from January 2010 to July 2021. Out of 214,992 individuals, 11,121 respondents (5.2%) completed a comprehensive electronic survey linking their responses to electronic health records. Findings revealed that 55.8% of respondents currently used a wearable device, and 95.3% of nonusers expressed willingness to use one if provided at no cost. Despite the majority of users (70.2%) not having shared device data with their doctors, most believed it was essential (20.4%) or moderately important (34.4%) to share device-related health information with healthcare providers. Multivariable analysis indicated that factors such as older age, male sex, and heart failure were associated with lower odds of wearable device use, while higher median income and receiving care in a cardiovascular medicine clinic were associated with greater odds of device use. This study highlights the commonality of consumer wearable device use among patients in primary and cardiovascular medicine clinics and emphasizes the perceived value of wearable health data among users.

Source: ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/JAHA.123.032126