Multiclass arrhythmia classification using multimodal smartwatch photoplethysmography signals collected in real-life settings.

In the early stages of atrial fibrillation (AF), most cases are paroxysmal (pAF), making identification only possible with continuous and prolonged monitoring. With the advent of wearables, smartwatches equipped with photoplethysmographic (PPG) sensors are an ideal approach for continuous monitoring of pAF. There have been numerous studies demonstrating successful capture of pAF events, especially using deep learning.

HIV Social-network intervention more effective in older populations in Kenya.

US President's Emergency Plan for HIV/AIDS has been credited with saving 25 million lives in sub-Sahara Africa and, as such, constitutes a preeminent US foreign policy achievement of the twenty-first century. However, the implementation of effective HIV/AIDS pharmacological interventions remains a challenge in rural Kenyan communities. Of particular importance are patient retention and care engagement and their interaction with age disparities that are sensitive to different socioeconomic contexts, as well as time-in-treatment.

Income in Relation to Psychosocial Factors Among Stroke Survivors using Smartwatches for Atrial Fibrillation Monitoring.

Background: Timely detection of atrial fibrillation (AF) is critical for stroke prevention. Smartwatches are FDA-approved devices that can now aide in this detection.

Objective: Investigate how socioeconomic status is associated with self-reported psychosocial outcomes, including anxiety, patient activation, and health-related quality of life in stroke survivors using smartwatch for AF detection.

Social Induction via a Social Behavioral Intervention on Changes in Metabolic Risk Factors: A Randomized Controlled Trial in Rural Appalachia, United States.

Objective: To conduct a randomized controlled trial examining the effects of a social network intervention on health.

Participants And Methods: The Microclinic Social Network Program randomized controlled trial (implemented from June 1, 2011, through December 31, 2014) delivered weekly social-health classroom interventions for 9 to 10 months vs standard of care. Longitudinal multilevel analyses examined end-of-trial and 6-month post-intervention outcomes.

An SMS chatbot digital educational program to increase healthy eating behaviors in adolescence: A multifactorial randomized controlled trial among 7,890 participants in the Danish National Birth Cohort.

Background: Few cost-effective strategies to shift dietary habits of populations in a healthier direction have been identified. We examined if participating in a chatbot health education program transmitted by Short Messages Service ("SMS-program") could improve adolescent dietary behaviors and body weight trajectories. We also explored possible added effects of maternal or peer involvement.

Methods for structural sexism and population health research: Introducing a novel analytic framework to capture life-course and intersectional effects.

Accumulating evidence links structural sexism to gendered health inequities, yet methodological challenges have precluded comprehensive examinations into life-course and/or intersectional effects. To help address this gap, we introduce an analytic framework that uses sequential conditional mean models (SCMMs) to jointly account for longitudinal exposure trajectories and moderation by multiple dimensions of social identity/position, which we then apply to study how early life-course exposure to U.S.

Social network enhanced behavioral interventions for diabetes and obesity: A 3 arm randomized trial with 2 years follow-up in Jordan.

While obesity and diabetes are rising pandemics, few low-cost and effective prevention and management strategies exist, especially in the Middle East. Nearly 20% of adults in Jordan suffer from diabetes, and over 75% are overweight or obese. Social network-based programs have shown promise as a viable public health intervention strategy to address these growing crises.

Technology engagement is associated with higher perceived physical well-being in stroke patients prescribed smartwatches for atrial fibrillation detection.

Background: Increasing ownership of smartphones among Americans provides an opportunity to use these technologies to manage medical conditions. We examine the influence of baseline smartwatch ownership on changes in self-reported anxiety, patient engagement, and health-related quality of life when prescribed smartwatch for AF detection.

Method: We performed a secondary analysis of the Pulsewatch study (NCT03761394), a clinical trial in which 120 participants were randomized to receive a smartwatch-smartphone app dyad and ECG patch monitor compared to an ECG patch monitor alone to establish the accuracy of the smartwatch-smartphone app dyad for detection of AF.

Accuracy, Usability, and Adherence of Smartwatches for Atrial Fibrillation Detection in Older Adults After Stroke: Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a common cause of stroke, and timely diagnosis is critical for secondary prevention. Little is known about smartwatches for AF detection among stroke survivors. We aimed to examine accuracy, usability, and adherence to a smartwatch-based AF monitoring system designed by older stroke survivors and their caregivers.

Dairy intake and risk of hip fracture in prospective cohort studies: non-linear algorithmic dose-response analysis in 486 950 adults.

Previous studies on the relationship between dairy consumption and hip fracture risk have reported inconsistent findings. Therefore, we aimed to conduct an algorithmically driven non-linear dose-response meta-analysis of studies assessing dairy intake and risk of developing incident hip fracture. Meta-analysis from PubMed and Google Scholar searches for articles of prospective studies of dairy intake and risk of hip fracture, supplemented by additional detailed data provided by authors.

Noise Reduction in Photoplethysmography Signals Using a Convolutional Denoising Autoencoder With Unconventional Training Scheme.

Objective: We propose an efficient approach based on a convolutional denoising autoencoder (CDA) network to reduce motion and noise artifacts (MNA) from corrupted atrial fibrillation (AF) and non-AF photoplethysmography (PPG) data segments so that an accurate PPG-signal-derived heart rate can be obtained. Our method's main innovation is the optimization of the CDA performance for both rhythms using more AF than non-AF data for training the AF-specific CDA model and vice versa for the non-AF CDA network.

Methods: To evaluate this unconventional training scheme, our proposed network was trained and tested on 25-sec PPG data segments from 48 subjects from two different databases-the Pulsewatch dataset and Stanford University's publicly available PPG dataset.

Anxiety, patient activation, and quality of life among stroke survivors prescribed smartwatches for atrial fibrillation monitoring.

Background: The detection of atrial fibrillation (AF) in stroke survivors is critical to decreasing the risk of recurrent stroke. Smartwatches have emerged as a convenient and accurate means of AF diagnosis; however, the impact on critical patient-reported outcomes, including anxiety, engagement, and quality of life, remains ill defined.

Objectives: To examine the association between smartwatch prescription for AF detection and the patient-reported outcomes of anxiety, patient activation, and self-reported health.

False Atrial Fibrillation Alerts from Smartwatches are Associated with Decreased Perceived Physical Well-being and Confidence in Chronic Symptoms Management.

Wrist-based wearables have been FDA approved for AF detection. However, the health behavior impact of false AF alerts from wearables on older patients at high risk for AF are not known. In this work, we analyzed data from the Pulsewatch (NCT03761394) study, which randomized patients (≥50 years) with history of stroke or transient ischemic attack to wear a patch monitor and a smartwatch linked to a smartphone running the Pulsewatch application vs to only the cardiac patch monitor over 14 days.

Correction: Ramadan fasting and weight change trajectories: Time-varying association of weight during and after Ramadan in low-income and refugee populations.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgph.

Ramadan fasting and weight change trajectories: Time-varying association of weight during and after Ramadan in low-income and refugee populations.

Obesity is a significant driver of the global burden of non-communicable diseases. Fasting is one approach that has been shown to improve health outcomes. However, the effects of Ramadan fasting differ in that the type, frequency, quantity, and time of food consumption vary.

A Smartwatch System for Continuous Monitoring of Atrial Fibrillation in Older Adults After Stroke or Transient Ischemic Attack: Application Design Study.

Background: The prevalence of atrial fibrillation (AF) increases with age and can lead to stroke. Therefore, older adults may benefit the most from AF screening. However, older adult populations tend to lag more than younger groups in the adoption of, and comfort with, the use of mobile health (mHealth) apps.

Self-reported efficacy in patient-physician interaction in relation to anxiety, patient activation, and health-related quality of life among stroke survivors.

Background: Early detection of AF is critical for stroke prevention. Several commercially available smartwatches are FDA cleared for AF detection. However, little is known about how patient-physician relationships affect patients' anxiety, activation, and health-related quality of life when prescribed smartwatch for AF detection.

Wearable device use and technology preferences in cancer survivors with or at risk for atrial fibrillation.

Background: Cancer survivors face increased risk of heart disease, including atrial fibrillation (AF). Certain types of technology, such as consumer wearable devices, can be useful to monitor for AF, but little is known about wearables and AF monitoring in cancer survivor populations.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to understand technology usage and preferences in cancer survivors with or at risk for AF, and to describe demographic factors associated with wearable device ownership in this population.

Consumer-Led Screening for Atrial Fibrillation: Frontier Review of the AF-SCREEN International Collaboration.

The technological evolution and widespread availability of wearables and handheld ECG devices capable of screening for atrial fibrillation (AF), and their promotion directly to consumers, has focused attention of health care professionals and patient organizations on consumer-led AF screening. In this Frontiers review, members of the AF-SCREEN International Collaboration provide a critical appraisal of this rapidly evolving field to increase awareness of the complexities and uncertainties surrounding consumer-led AF screening. Although there are numerous commercially available devices directly marketed to consumers for AF monitoring and identification of unrecognized AF, health care professional-led randomized controlled studies using multiple ECG recordings or continuous ECG monitoring to detect AF have failed to demonstrate a significant reduction in stroke.

Online health information seeking, low atrial fibrillation-related quality of life, and high perceived efficacy in patient-physician interactions in older adults with atrial fibrillation.

Background: Little is known about online health information-seeking behavior among older adults with atrial fibrillation (AF) and its association with self-reported outcomes.

Objective: To examine patient characteristics associated with online health information seeking and the association between information seeking and low AF-related quality of life and high perceived efficacy in patient-physician interaction.

Methods: We used data from the SAGE-AF (Systematic Assessment of Geriatric Elements in AF) study, which includes older participants aged ≥65 years with AF and a CHADS-VASc risk score ≥2.

Usability of a smartwatch for atrial fibrillation detection in older adults after stroke.

Background: Smartwatches can be used for atrial fibrillation (AF) detection, but little is known about how older adults at risk for AF perceive their usability.

Methods: We employed a mixed-methods study design using data from the ongoing Pulsewatch study, a randomized clinical trial (NCT03761394) examining the accuracy of a smartwatch-smartphone app dyad (Samsung/Android) compared to usual care with a patch monitor (Cardea SOLO™ ECG System) for detection of AF among older stroke survivors. To be eligible to participate in Pulsewatch, participants needed to be at least 50 years of age, have had an ischemic stroke, and have no major contraindications to anticoagulation therapy should AF be detected.

Cumulative exposure to state-level structural sexism and risk of disordered eating: Results from a 20-year prospective cohort study.

Background: Gendered inequities in disordered eating are well-documented, yet few studies have examined their structural drivers. To help fill this gap, we investigated whether cumulative exposure to state-level structural sexism from childhood through young adulthood potentiates differences in disordered eating risk between cisgender girls/women and boys/men.

Methods: Participants came from the Growing Up Today Study (N = 16,875), a cohort of children aged 9-14 years in 1996 who we followed through 2016.