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Feasibility and measurement stability of smartwatch-based cuffless blood pressure monitoring: A real-world prospective observational study

Hypertension Research volume 46, pages 922–931 (2023)Cite this article

A Comment to this article was published on 04 April 2023

Abstract

Cuffless wearable devices are currently being developed for long-term monitoring of blood pressure (BP) in patients with hypertension and in apparently healthy people. This study evaluated the feasibility and measurement stability of smartwatch-based cuffless BP monitoring in real-world conditions. Users of the first smartwatch-based cuffless BP monitor approved in Korea (Samsung Galaxy Watch) were invited to upload their data from using the device for 4 weeks post calibration. A total of 760 participants (mean age 43.7 ± 11.9, 80.3% men) provided 35,797 BP readings (average monitoring 22 ± 4 days [SD]; average readings 47 ± 42 per participant [median 36]). Each participant obtained 1.5 ± 1.3 readings/day and 19.7% of the participants obtained measurements every day. BP showed considerable variability, mainly depending on the day and time of the measurement. There was a trend towards higher BP levels on Mondays than on other days of the week and on workdays than in weekends. BP readings taken between 00:00 and 04:00 tended to be the lowest, whereas those between 12:00 and 16:00 the highest. The average pre-post calibration error for systolic BP (difference in 7-day BP before and after calibration), was 6.8 ± 5.6 mmHg, and was increased with higher systolic BP levels before calibration. Smartwatch-based cuffless BP monitoring is feasible for out-of-office monitoring in the real-world setting. The stability of BP measurement post calibration and the standardization and optimal time interval for recalibration need further investigation.

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Acknowledgements

MH, YRL, and TP wrote the draft. SI and WBP, the present and the immediate-past presidents of KSH, supported this study on behalf of the KSH. All authors reviewed and edited the manuscript. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript. We thank Jongmin Choi and Sunok Jung (Samsung Electronics) for technical assistance in Galaxy Watch device instructions.

the Korean Society of Hypertension

Sang-Hyun Ihm5, Wook Bum Pyun6, Hae Young Lee1,2, Myeong-Chan Cho8

Author information

Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally: Minju Han, Young-Ro Lee, Taeyoung Park.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea

    Minju Han & Hae Young Lee

  2. Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, South Korea

    Minju Han & Hae Young Lee

  3. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, College of Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea

    Young-Ro Lee & Jong-Mo Seo

  4. Department of Applied Statistics and Department of Statistics and Data Science, Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea

    Taeyoung Park

  5. Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine, Bucheon St. Mary’s Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, South Korea

    Sang-Hyun Ihm

  6. Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine, Ewha Woman’s University Seoul Hospital, Seoul, South Korea

    Wook Bum Pyun

  7. Medical Outpatient and Hypertension Clinic, ESH Hypertension Centre of Excellence, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland

    Thilo Burkard

  8. Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, Chungbuk National University, Cheongju, Korea

    Myeong-Chan Cho

  9. ESH Excellence Hypertension Center, Department of Internal Medicine, Geriatrics Section, Hospital Clinic, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

    Miguel Camafort

  10. Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA, USA

    Eugene Yang

  11. Hypertension Center STRIDE-7, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, School of Medicine, Third Department of Medicine, Sotiria Hospital, Athens, Greece

    George S. Stergiou

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Consortia

on behalf of the Korean Society of Hypertension

  • Sang-Hyun Ihm
  • , Wook Bum Pyun
  • , Myeong-Chan Cho
  •  & Hae Young Lee

Contributions

The authors indicated in parentheses made substantial contributions to the following tasks of research: initial conceptualization (WBP, HYL, JMS, TB); study design (HYL, JMS, TP); literature search and data collection (MH, SHI,HYL); data analysis (YRL, TP, JMS); data interpretation (MH, YRL, TP, JMS, HYL, TB, MCC, MC, EY, GSS); and writing (MH, YRL, TP). All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript. MH, YRL, and TP contributed equally to this work and share first authorship.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hae Young Lee.

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Conflict of interest

GSS has received honoraria for lectures at scientific symposia and for consulting services and research grants from several manufacturers of blood pressure monitoring technology including manufacturers of cuffless devices Aktiia SA, Maisense, and Samsung Research America, Inc. The other authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Han, M., Lee, YR., Park, T. et al. Feasibility and measurement stability of smartwatch-based cuffless blood pressure monitoring: A real-world prospective observational study. Hypertens Res 46, 922–931 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41440-023-01215-z

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