Using a smartphone-based ECG in adults is reported as considerably more AF than typical care within clinics!

A research group from the Heart Rhythm Institute of the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center that is led by Stavros Stavrakis, who is an associate professor of medicine at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine in Oklahoma City, reported that screening for silent AF using mobile ECG technology is feasible in clinics and detects more AF than usual care.

Within the research, 2,323 participants from a tribal health care system in Oklahoma aged at least 50 years (mean age, 61 years; 62% women) who had no history of AF are analyzed. Those who were given a single-lead ECG using a mobile device paired with a tablet or smartphone at the clinic were compared with those who were seen at the same time but were not given screening.

This leads to appropriate initiation of blood thinners, which have been shown to decrease stroke. American Indian adults, like other indigenous populations, develop atrial fibrillation at a younger age compared with non-American Indian populations. This easy-to-implement approach has the potential to improve health outcomes among a large number of American Indian adults who have historically endured greater health disparities,??? Stavrakis told Healio.

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