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Everyone seems to be wearing those little fitness watches these days. Called fitness bands or fitness trackers, these devices are designed to monitor certain factors during exercise. The number of steps taken in a day, the number of stairs climbed, and heart rate while exercising can be monitored by a fitness tracker. This convenient way to track heart rate and amount of exercise sounds like an appealing life hack, especially to people who need to monitor heart rate during exercise for medical reasons or as a part of the calculation for calories burned. This article will, however, discuss why this method of personal health tracking may not be as promising as it appears.

How accurate are watch style fitness trackers?

While it might be easy to measure heart rate with a watch style fitness tracker, how accurate are these devices? Not as accurate as one would hope, as a recent study discovered. The study, conducted by researchers at the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio, compared electrocardiogram (ECG) readings to several types of heart rate monitoring devices, including a chest strap with arm band and several types of fitness trackers worn on the wrist. Volunteers selected for the study wore the devices while exercising on treadmills, ellipticals, and stationary bikes during light, moderate, and intense exercise. Readings were also taken while volunteers were at rest.

This study found that the measurements recorded by the chest strap most closely matched the readings taken by the ECG. The fitness trackers were found to be fairly accurate while subjects were at rest or participating in light exercise on the treadmill, but were inaccurate during intense exercise, especially on the elliptical and stationary bike. The fitness trackers were found to have a range of margin of error either over or under the actual heart rate of +/- 15 beats per minute to +/- 34 beats per minute.

Why the discrepancy between ECG and fitness trackers?

A difference of 34 beats per minute between ECG and fitness tracker measurements is startling. Why is there such a difference? One reason is the nature of an ECG. The way the test is designed, it is not possible to get an accurate reading from one arm. ECG measurements are usually taken through electrodes attached directly to the chest and trunk. A chest strap style monitor more closely mimics the electrode placement of an ECG than watch style trackers do. Secondly, the technology available in watch style fitness trackers may not be sensitive enough to accurately monitor health status during exercise. Finally, the placement of a watch style fitness tracker, just above the wrist, is not the most sensitive part of the body for this type of measurement. Since the tracker is worn during exercise, it tends to slide out of place, losing heart rate tracking ability just when it is needed most.

An argument can be made that not even chest strap monitors measure heart rate with perfect accuracy. However, chest strap monitors can closely match ECG results, while watch style fitness trackers are 15 to 34 beats per minute off actual heart rate. This could be detrimental or even life threatening to a person who must monitor heart rate during exercise due to heart disease. The margin of error is just not acceptable when health risks are involved.

How should heart rate be monitored?

Considering the problems with watch style fitness trackers, people who use them should use common sense when interpreting the measurements displayed on this type of device. If a person has been jogging uphill for 10 minutes and the fitness tracker is displaying a heart rate of 82, the measurement is probably not correct. People who exercise regularly are familiar with how their bodies respond to exercise and how their heart rates fluctuate, so they should be able to identify when a fitness tracker reading is in line with how they normally respond to exercise and when it is not.

For people who must closely monitor heart rate during exercise due to heart conditions or other health problems, accurate equipment is a must. Accuracy should be considered over convenience when selecting health monitoring equipment for exercise, especially when heart disease, circulatory problems, diabetes, or other health conditions are present. While this equipment might not be as convenient and attractive as a watch style fitness tracker, it will more accurately show what a person’s actual heart rate is. Accurate equipment will insure that health risk assessment is precise during all types of exercise.

Quantihealth provides accurate health monitoring equipment

The Quantihealth Corporation offers health monitoring equipment that is accurate and stable. The health tracking devices provided by Quantihealth are also portable and wearable, although this feature was not the primary consideration when equipment selection was made. Accuracy is always the most crucial factor. When combined with Quantihealth’s sophisticated data processing, Quantihealth’s health monitoring equipment offers proven results. For more information about Quantihealth’s accurate health monitoring equipment and services, please visit www.thequantihealth.com.

 

Tags: health monitoring, personal health tracking, health risk assessment, life hack, health status