Can Smartwatches Contribute to Health Anxiety in Patients With Heart Conditions?

August 25, 2021 by Alexa Hornbeck
Can Smartwatches Contribute to Health Anxiety in Patients With Heart Conditions?

Smartwatches, or other wrist-worn devices, can help monitor for health conditions such as an irregular heart rhythm, but a study funded by the National Institutes of Health finds that wearable devices may also cause negative effects to patients’ psychological health.

“Our case study does not suggest that wearables intrinsically lead to anxiety, but that in particular situations like with atrial fibrillation, it’s something we need to think about,” said Rachel Lampert, professor of Medicine in Cardiology and Electrophysiology at Yale School of Medicine. 

Atrial fibrillation affects an estimated 12.1 million people in the United States and was the underlying cause in nearly 26,000 deaths in 2018. 

The condition can be brief or permanent and occurs when the normal beating in the upper chambers of the heart becomes irregular, and blood doesn’t flow as well as it should to the lower chambers of the heart. 

To develop the case study, researchers reviewed the records of a 70-year-old woman with an atrial fibrillation heart condition who experienced anxiety from wearing a smartwatch after taking 916 electrocardiography recordings in one year, a method used to record electrical signals from the heart to monitor for heart conditions.

The patient developed an enduring belief that smartwatch notifications were a sign of worsening cardiac function, leading to a vicious cycle of excessive worry, preoccupation with cardiac stimuli and sensations, and compensatory behaviors.

Despite repeated medical assessment and reassurance, the pattern resulted in 12 ambulatory clinic and emergency department visits and numerous telephone calls to health care providers, none of which led to any alterations in medical treatment. 

“We observed a substantial increase in unnecessary outpatient visits and ED presentations in our patient,” said Lindsey Rosman, assistant professor of Medicine in the Division of Cardiology at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine.

Rosman conducted a medical record review and a psychiatric interview with the patient who also completed a number of self-report assessments.

Rosman found that the constant worry of the patient and frequent health care visits had a profoundly negative impact on the patient’s mental health, relationships, and quality of life, and the patient received six sessions of cognitive behavioral therapy aimed at targeting the anxiety. 

“We want to understand who is vulnerable to this, and how factors like age or underlying anxiety might make people more vulnerable to this and thinking about ways to combat that phenomenon would be the next step,” said Lampert.

The study showed that technologies like smartwatches and other wrist-worn devices may heighten awareness and attention to normal and abnormal fluctuations in heart rates, which may lead to substantial increases in anxiety in patients and prompt unnecessary medical care. 

Rosman and Lampert will be working to conduct a larger study to determine the prevalence and clinical outcomes of health anxiety associated with wearable devices in patients with underlying atrial fibrillation.

“All stakeholders, technology companies, behavioral scientists, health care practitioners, researchers, patients and caregivers, need to work together to understand the ways in which diverse segments of society interact with this technology. Unintended consequences are inevitable, but we should do our best to understand these issues and guard against them,” said Rosman. 

A+
a-
  • health anxiety
  • heart conditions
  • patients
  • smartwatches
  • Yale School of Medicine
  • In The News

    Health

    Voting

    Technology

    March 28, 2024
    by Dan McCue
    Silicon Valley-Based Firm Launches ‘Radar as a Service’

    BELMONT, Calif. — At first the idea sounds about as un-Silicon Valley as one can get. After all, the basic... Read More

    BELMONT, Calif. — At first the idea sounds about as un-Silicon Valley as one can get. After all, the basic concept underlying radar was proven in 1886, when a German physicist named Heinrich Hertz showed that radio waves could be reflected from solid objects. And the... Read More

    March 28, 2024
    by Dan McCue
    Vice President Harris Rolls Out First Government-Wide Policy to Mitigate AI Risks

    WASHINGTON — Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday rolled out the Biden administration’s first government-wide policy intended to mitigate the... Read More

    WASHINGTON — Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday rolled out the Biden administration’s first government-wide policy intended to mitigate the risks associated with artificial intelligence while still enabling its use to advance the public interest. The new policy, which is being issued through the White House... Read More

    March 21, 2024
    by Tom Ramstack
    Lawmakers Say US Semiconductors Sometimes Used by Foreign Adversaries

    WASHINGTON — A congressional panel juggled competing interests Thursday of trying to lead the world in industrial development without having... Read More

    WASHINGTON — A congressional panel juggled competing interests Thursday of trying to lead the world in industrial development without having the new technologies fall into the hands of foreign militaries that might want to harm the United States. More than anything, lawmakers want more and better... Read More

    March 21, 2024
    by Dan McCue
    DOJ, 16 States Sue Apple Over Alleged Smartphone Monopoly

    WASHINGTON — The Justice Department and 16 state attorneys general sued Apple on Thursday accusing the Cupertino, California-based tech giant... Read More

    WASHINGTON — The Justice Department and 16 state attorneys general sued Apple on Thursday accusing the Cupertino, California-based tech giant of operating an illegal monopoly in the smartphone market. According to the lawsuit, which was filed in federal court in New Jersey, Apple has used the... Read More

    House Passes Bill That Would Lead to TikTok Ban if Chinese Owner Doesn't Sell. Senate Path Unclear

    WASHINGTON (AP) — The House on Wednesday passed a bill that would lead to a nationwide ban of the popular video app... Read More

    WASHINGTON (AP) — The House on Wednesday passed a bill that would lead to a nationwide ban of the popular video app TikTok if its China-based owner doesn't sell, as lawmakers acted on concerns that the company's current ownership structure is a national security threat. The bill, passed by... Read More

    In New York City, Heat Pumps That Fit in Apartment Windows Promise Big Emissions Cuts

    NEW YORK (AP) — For 27 years, the heat in Regina Fred’s Queens apartment building came from a noisy steam... Read More

    NEW YORK (AP) — For 27 years, the heat in Regina Fred’s Queens apartment building came from a noisy steam radiator that she couldn't control and sometimes didn't come on at all, leaving her shivering. Sometimes, the radiators ran so hot that residents had to keep... Read More

    News From The Well
    scroll top