Do I want a smart watch?

[Time Waster]

So for all your better presented apple watch data you had to go in and have the same ecg the doctor said you'd need to confirm it before you sent the pdf file to him/ her. So the benefit is what exactly?

The medical profession is risk adverse and that means they will not rely on smart watch data.

 

[mistyoptic]

So for all your better presented apple watch data you had to go in and have the same ecg the doctor said you'd need to confirm it before you sent the pdf file to him/ her. So the benefit is what exactly?

The medical profession is risk adverse and that means they will not rely on smart watch data.

Which is no different from Hospital A saying "we know Hospital B did that test, and we could see the information (if we could be *rsed) but we'll just do the test again for our own records" and you wait another 4 weeks...

 

[Rezillo]

So for all your better presented apple watch data you had to go in and have the same ecg the doctor said you'd need to confirm it before you sent the pdf file to him/ her. So the benefit is what exactly?

The medical profession is risk adverse and that means they will not rely on smart watch data.

Of course they won't rely on smartwatch data as a formal diagnosis - just that my GP thought the results in the pdf were of good enough quality to have a full ECG as a matter of urgency rather than have me join the appointment queue weeks down the line. I had one at the surgery 48 hours later and was immediately prescribed anti-coagulants, which I'll be on indefinitely. He did tell me the watch was probably the best purchase I had ever made and as far as I know, he doesn't work for Apple

I had no idea I had AF - I had no symptoms and it came up when I was running through the watch functions. It repeatedly said I had AF signs and should contact my GP. Mrs R tried it and got sinus rhythym, so clearly something was up with me.

Looking online, there is criticism of smartwatch ECG functions as they can give false positives for under 50s and that the vulnerable over 60s don't use smart watches, so won't pick it up anyway. As an over 60 person, I beg to differ.

There's a big push for assessment of arrhythmia in older people. Sainsburys in Liverpool are taking part in a trial where the sensors are in supermarket trolley handles and will give you a warning:

https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/new...s-trolleys-identifying-shoppers-risk-20615853

Here's a bit of my watch output - not the worst bit by a long chalk.

I did get a call back from the surgery as the pdf was going on my records and it had my fake date of birth in it that I use in my Apple account - they wanted to check it was me.

 

[Time Waster]

Which is no different from Hospital A saying "we know Hospital B did that test, and we could see the information (if we could be *rsed) but we'll just do the test again for our own records" and you wait another 4 weeks...

The difference is both hospitals have equivalency in the quality of the tests and it'll be procedure to retest when there's been a change in venue. However with self testing through a wristwatch by a non medical professional person there's no equivalency. Despite brands claiming the qualities of their sensors and algorithms they're still a long way off being accepted by medical professionals.

I know people who have studied medical biosensors both medical and general public too. Research into how these technologies can be used by medical professionals. The big tech companies are looking into this pumping money into universities and their own research establishments. They're not looking at devices you buy from curry's.

 

[icowden]

So for all your better presented apple watch data you had to go in and have the same ecg the doctor said you'd need to confirm it before you sent the pdf file to him/ her. So the benefit is what exactly?

You seem to have missed it. The benefit is that without the watch he wouldn't have been to see his GP and say "my watch says I have atrial fibrillation, thought I had better give you a ring just in case". The GP was then able to use the data to make a decision about the priority of his treatment, which was to his benefit.

 

[Time Waster]

I get that bit but so many devices can give you that info. The poster was making that about apple having an accurate Hrm and gives a neat report out for the gp for a benefit of using an apple watch. It's a common feature available for less cost elsewhere.

My blood pressure monitor can detect such things and that's one approved by jirc the British Heart Foundation and is acceptable to GPs. I've been asked if I had one after a high blood pressure reading but didn't then and had to go back in to get checked out by a nurse 2 weeks later.

Withings watches make a big deal about their ECG quality that's been verified or certified as accurate by multiple institutions in relevant areas. Other brands too claim that.

 

[Rezillo]

AFAIK, BHF-approval relates to use for blood pressure monitoring and not necessarily for associated AF-detection capabilities but i may be wrong. I have a BHF-approved BP monitor and it also does AF-detection but not that well (around a third false negatives; I just ignore the symbol when it appears as my AF appears to be permanent). The BP AF warning is based on pulse irregularity rather than the overall wave-form of an electrical output device. That chart excerpt I posted earlier - it may look reasonably regular but sinus rhythym does not look like that in profile and it is not a deficiency of the watch. When my wife uses it, the full heart cycle is evident in the waveform either side of the peak.

As far as I'm concerned, ANY watch or gizmo that alerts you and ends up getting you properly ECG tested is worth having. I would suggest, though, that an electrically-based ECG function, whatever the make, is the one to have and as for Apple, I can only speak from my own experience.

https://www.bhf.org.uk/informations...dical/ask-the-experts/best-heart-rate-monitor

 

[Time Waster]

Sorry if I took it the wrong way. I've seen too many online apple recommendations from fans of apple that are blind to alternative views. It's rather more common for apple fans to claim properties or functions as only from apple than other ecosystem users. It seems I jumped the gun and thought you were another. You actuallly sound far too reasonable for that.

I dislike hype and especially over priced items but I shouldn't hold that against anyone else. Sorry!

 

[Rezillo]

Sorry if I took it the wrong way. I've seen too many online apple recommendations from fans of apple that are blind to alternative views. It's rather more common for apple fans to claim properties or functions as only from apple than other ecosystem users. It seems I jumped the gun and thought you were another. You actuallly sound far too reasonable for that.

I dislike hype and especially over priced items but I shouldn't hold that against anyone else. Sorry!

That's ok. I never set out to buy Apple -this all started for me when I had put on a lot of weight in lockdown and thought that if I started an exercise regime, a smart watch was a good idea to easily monitor my heart rate and give me a heads up if I overdid things. I bought one on Amazon for £30 - it was a great gadget, looked much better than its price implied but its heart rate function was useless and gave me a reading, even when it was suspended in mid air. That went back.

Mrs R then said "Why don't you buy an Apple watch?". After I picked myself up from the floor and checked that she was serious, I got one from the Apple refurbished store for £70 off. What arrived looked brand new. The ECG bit was the last function I tried out and at that point my life turned upside down. Anyway, since then, I've lost two and a half stone and none of my clothes fit.

 

[KneesUp]

Thanks for all the replies folks. I still don't know!

I very much like the idea of the heart rate monitor / ECG function, but I don't really like the look of the [fruit] watch, and I don't really want the same nagging messages ('someone you might now just posted on Instagram', 'your parcel has been delivered', 'here's a work email on Sunday morning' and so on) appearing on the watch, the tablet, the phone and the laptop. And I know I can't be bothered with creating lots of profiles for what can tell me stuff when - my life doesn't run to a defined enough schedule for that - I use 'no notification' and 'all notifications' and nothing in-between.

So I quite like the look of the Withings ones - they do heart, brief messages, and they look nice - but if I don't want the messages at all, then I'm down to the heart monitoring and the looks. And although 'looks' are a reason to put me off something, it's not a reason to buy something - my current watch looks fine. So the function I'd get it the heart stuff. And I'm now thinking I could just get a chest strap (which are apparently more accurate than watches anyway) and surely there is an ECG app?

 

[icowden]

And although 'looks' are a reason to put me off something, it's not a reason to buy something - my current watch looks fine. So the function I'd get it the heart stuff. And I'm now thinking I could just get a chest strap (which are apparently more accurate than watches anyway) and surely there is an ECG app?

At the end of the day it's about you and what use you will make of it. I have had a smartwatch for 4 years. My most recent one sits in a drawer in my bedroom. I just have no need to use it now that I am at home 95% of the year. I have the time in front of me.

 

[Time Waster]

I replaced a seiko watch with a garmin. Actually a fitbit surge first then I stopped using that and went back to the seiko. Then I got back into the surge, fitbits first smartwatch that really made fitbit one of the market leaders. I think that was after I started using a garmin chest strap with my garmin 25 when commuting by bike. The chest strap simply kept dropping out such that it was often useless.

My surge recorded hr all the time. It simply worked. Even inaccurate hrm is better than one that stopped working for no reason.

Then I read about a garmin vivosport, a smaller form factor that was so much better than anything similar. It was chosen because it worked with my garmin 25. In fact aiui garmin connect combines gps signals from garmin sources, smoothing data I reckon for better accuracy. My garmin 25 gets sent hr data from the tracker as does my concept 2 rower. I'm still wearing it. Looks matter not but function does.

In am however thinking of getting something else. Samsung watches have simply amazing screens. Fitbit seems to have got n things right with charge 5 although sense also looks good. Garmin need a new product I think, it's like they've nothing new out.

 

[Time Waster]

Should I get a top end android compatible fitbit or garmin smartwatch or a Nintendo switch so I can join in multilayer games with my son the switch would give me my first games device since my zx spectrum 48k in 1983 and several years later when I stopped using it? Which is more useful? Which is more fun?

 

[Time Waster]

Oops! Saw a garmin fenix 6 for £329! It fell into my hands and I £329 worse off. I was only looking at £179 spend at most. It just screamed shiny, new tech to me and its a £500+ watch. Got all the multisports features and apps store too. It's got ABC and gps. Training plans, coaching function and pretty much most if not all of the features any garmin wearable has. Skiing, swimming, golf ffs! SUP, kayaking, climbing, etc. I bought it as incentive to get out more to exercise. I might even start running! Couch to 5k perhaps. It's got a coaching programme for that.

I'm particularly interested in seeing its yoga and pilates routines. I need to improve flexibility. Weights routine in it too.

 

[Drago]

They want 500 sheets for $20 of electronics?!