Lifestyle

Wearable devices don’t enthuse people with cardiovascular diseases

A study finds that people at risk of cardiovascular diseases are not very keen on using wearable devices

If you thought wearable health devices are hugely sought after by all people across the board, you need to think again! Wearables these days come across as fitness devices and many across the world swear by them. However, the question remains as to whether people at risk of cardiovascular diseases are in love with such fitness-bearing wearable devices.

Going by the findings of a study by an Indian-American scientist, people at risk of cardiovascular diseases are not very keen on using wearables such as fitness bands and smartwatches.  Lovedeep S. Dhingra, a postdoctoral research fellow in the Cardiovascular Data Science (CarDS) Lab at the Yale School of Medicine in Connecticut, who is behind the study, has been quoted saying that age, education and income are factors associated with less use of wearable health devices among people with and at risk of cardiovascular disease.

This in fact comes as surprise as wearables have a fairly good market. The study found that people with cardiovascular disease aren’t very keen on using wearable devices. And, this could also mean that though wearable technologies could benefit those people with cardiovascular ailments, such individuals tend to shy away from using the tech.

Smartwatches, fitness bands fall in the wearable devices category

Devices that monitor and track health or physical activity and worn on or close to the body come in the category of wearables. They are known to manage cardiovascular health with features like physical activity monitoring, heart-rate tracking and more. Smartwatches and fitness bands fall in this category.

The study, which is to be presented at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2022 this month, took into account the health information of as many as 9,303 adults in the United States and arrived at this conclusion. It was also estimated that close to 3.6 million people with cardiovascular disease and 34.4 million people at risk of cardiovascular disease in the US used wearable devices.

Only 12% of cardiovascular disease patients older than 65 years use these devices

These numbers, however, made it clear that only 18 per cent of all people with cardiovascular disease, and 26 per cent of all people at risk of cardiovascular disease made use of the wearable gadgets in their daily lives. Besides, the study also concluded that just 12 per cent of people with cardiovascular disease older than 65 years used wearable devices. It needs to be noted that half of all people with cardiovascular disease are older than age 65.

It has been proven that 17 per cent of people with cardiovascular disease between 50 and 64 years of age make use of the wearable technologies. Besides, 33 per cent of those in the 18 to 49-year age group with diagnosed cardiovascular disease also are keen on using the wearable devices.

The study further goes on to say that individuals diagnosed with cardiovascular diseases who have an annual household income of $50,000 or more were four times more likely to use wearables than those with annual household incomes less than $20,000, a report quoting the Indian-American scientist added.

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Sanjeev Ramachandran

A journalist with 23 years of experience, Sanjeev has worked with reputed media houses such as Business Standard, The Ne More »

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