Smartphone apps may offer new avenue to clinical data collection

A smartphone can provide a depth of information about its user that would surprise most people. Researchers are eying these data aggregators as possible sources of information about cardiovascular health-related behaviors.

Fitness patterns, life satisfaction and self-reported diseases can provide researchers information without holding in-person evaluations. Published Dec. 14 in JAMA Cardiology, the study focused on the feasibility of gathering such information regarding cardiovascular health quickly, accurately and on a large scale at a low cost.

Using the MyHeart free smartphone app, more than 48,000 participants were able to record exercise, complete health questionnaires and take a six-minute walk test. Data was solely collected through the smartphone app with machine learning sorting participants to draw associations between activity, quality of life and self-reported diseases.

Intended to be a week-long examination of personal habits, the study featured 20,345 participants completing four days and 4,552 completing full seven days. More than 40,000 participants completed the health questionnaire and 4,990 completed the six-minute walk test.

“A smartphone-based study of cardiovascular health is feasible, and improvements in participant diversity and engagement will maximize yield from consented participants,” wrote authors. “Large-scale, real-world assessment of physical activity, fitness, and sleep using mobile devices may be a useful addition to future population health studies.”

The study found participants were considered physically activity for an average of 14.5 percent of an individual's total recorded time. The findings showed a pattern of lower overall activity but more frequent transitions between activity and inactivity was associated with cardiovascular disease. Additionally, participants' perception of activity and risk did not correspond to activity tracked by the MyHeart app or calculated cardiovascular risk.