A study found that resting heart rate measured with an investigational watch worn during the Project Baseline Health Study correlated strongly with electrocardiography (ECG), considered the gold standard.
Project Baseline Health Study was a collaboration with Duke University School of Medicine, Stanford Medicine, and Verily Life Sciences. Duke CTSI managed the Duke site, led by Svati H. Shah, MD, MHS, and enrolled 1,000 participants in Durham and Kannapolis.
This marks the first evaluation of resting heart rate as measured by a wearable device in a large cohort against a variety of important baseline characteristics. The study team found that resting heart rate determined by the study watch had an excellent correlation with that determined by ECG.
Researchers found that, in a relatively diverse group of study participants, resting heart rate can be measured easily and accurately using a wearable device and may be used in light of strong associations with clinically relevant baseline characteristics.
The team said more research is needed to inform clinicians and patients on how to use wearable technologies to perform noninvasive measurements like resting heart rate in combination with clinical measurements to potentially detect disease or enhance shared decision-making for behavioral change.
The study appears in Journal of Medical Internet Research. Duke co-authors include Shah, who directs the Center for Precision Health within CTSI, and Adrian F. Hernandez, MD, director for the Duke Clinical Research Institute.