Despite the world's fast-paced world of technology, health is never left out, with a number of devices being designed for health purposes. Among these are the wrist-worn fitness trackers that have the ability to keep track of users' heart rate and pulse. The question is , of course, if the devices are accurate enough for use.
A small study elsewhere found that wristbands or fitness trackers that offer to keep records of a person's heart rate do not guarantee a reliable reading when users participate in numerous activities, such as exercise.
According to a CBS News report, four heart monitors have been tested by experts at Cleveland Clinic's Heart and Vascular Institute. Study lead author Dr. Marc Gillinov claimed that when a person is at rest, heart rate monitors do have a tendency to give out correct readings.
However, he added that as these people start exercising, the accuracy of the devices decreases. The study was well represented by 50 healthy adults whose average age is 37 years and 28 of the said participants were women.
As per Medical News Today, each participant was randomly assigned to wear 2 different heart rate monitors while wearing and a Polar H7 chest strap monitor. Four of the popular wrist-worn monitors were used in the said research: Fitbit Charge HR (Fitbit), Apple Watch (Apple), Mio Alpha (Mio Global), and Basis Peak (Basis).
Consequently, when it comes to the accuracy of the chest strap monitor, none of the four devices were successful in providing accurate results. However, according to the statements released by the Cleveland Clinic team, studies show that despite the result of the research, cardiac patients increasingly still rely on wrist-worn monitors to gauge heart rate during rehabilitation and exercise.
