In the period from February 2020 to July 2021, the diagnosis rate of atrial fibrillation requiring therapy doubled among the 5,551 participants. This effective “leap into the digital” of screening might potentially prevent some strokes in the future.
Regular screening provides important values
According to the study, the low-threshold technology and continuous self-screening are primarily responsible for the doubling of the diagnosis rate. The constant screening over several weeks and months is extremely important for the precise diagnosis of atrial fibrillation, emphasized study leader Axel Bauer, director of the Innsbruck University Clinic for Internal Medicine III, in the APA interview. “A one-time ECG is often not effective because atrial fibrillation can come and go and can therefore go unnoticed with one-off measurements,” emphasized the cardiologist.
Older people measure more eagerly
The digital strategy, for which an existing smartphone app was used, relies on absolute simplicity of use to increase the screening frequency. “In less than five minutes, anyone can check themselves, examine their pulse waves and also evaluate them,” explained Bauer. “The everyday technology of smartphones worked very well for the participants, who were on average 66 years old,” he added. According to Bauer, who carried out the study together with Munich colleagues, the study even revealed the phenomenon that older people measured more frequently than younger people.
Many strokes would happen “because atrial fibrillation remains undetected,” stated Bauer. “In any case, there is a great deal of interest and hope that early detection of atrial fibrillation can also improve the prognosis,” he said. You can then start blood thinning and effective therapies all the earlier.
cooperation with health insurance companies
In any case, Bauer is convinced of the flexible and large-scale application of this or similar digital screening strategies for the future. “With these positive results, which were also published in the journal ‘Nature Medicine’, we will now develop strategies for risk groups together with public bodies and health insurance companies,” said the expert. This connection already existed due to the study: “Together with a large health insurance company, we identified 67,488 people who were invited to participate.”
However, it is not primarily the technology that is important, but that people are involved and motivated in digital strategies, according to Bauer. “Above all, education is needed to convince people how important these measurements are for their own health,” emphasized Bauer.