SynthesisHeart (British Cardiac Society)2022
Smartphone detection of atrial fibrillation using photoplethysmography: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Heart (British Cardiac Society), 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 30 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
30 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 47 citations in OpenAlex.
- Considering User Experience and Behavioral Approaches in the Design of mHealth Interventions for Atrial Fibrillation: Systematic Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2024Pooled it
- 2023 ACC/AHA/ACCP/HRS Guideline for the Diagnosis and Management of Atrial Fibrillation: A Report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Joint Committee on Clinical Practice Guidelines.Journal of the American College of Cardiology · 2024Guideline
- Guideline
- Cost-effectiveness of digoxin versus beta blockers in permanent atrial fibrillation: the Rate Control Therapy Evaluation in Permanent Atrial Fibrillation (RATE-AF) randomised trial.Heart (British Cardiac Society) · 2025Trial
- Consumer wearable devices for evaluation of heart rate control using digoxin versus beta-blockers: the RATE-AF randomized trial.Nature medicine · 2024Trial
- Atrial Fibrillation Burden: Assessment, Clinical Significance, and Therapeutic Implications.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Hypertension screening via awake-sleep differences in photoplethysmogram signals.European heart journal. Digital health · 2026Article
- Flexible Multimodal Wearable Biosensors for Continuous Health Monitoring: Recent Advances and Challenges.Biosensors · 2026Review
- Wearable Devices and Machine Learning in Cardiovascular Monitoring: Current Evidence and Future Directions for Precision Medicine.Journal of personalized medicine · 2026Review
- Smart Healthcare at Home: A Review of AI-Enabled Wearables and Diagnostics Through the Lens of the Pi-CON Methodology.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- AI-Powered Precision: Revolutionizing Atrial Fibrillation Detection with Electrocardiograms.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Review
- State of the Art of Artificial Intelligence in Clinical Electrophysiology in 2025: A Scientific Statement of the European Heart Rhythm Association (EHRA) of the ESC, the Heart Rhythm Society (HRS), and the ESC Working Group on E-Cardiology.Europace : European pacing, arrhythmias, and cardiac electrophysiology : journal of the working groups on cardiac pacing, arrhythmias, and cardiac cellular electrophysiology of the European Society of Cardiology · 2025Article
- Comparison of diagnostic accuracy of electrocardiogram-based versus photoplethysmography-based smartwatches for atrial fibrillation detection: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Annals of medicine and surgery (2012) · 2025Article
- External validation of a machine learning-based classification algorithm for ambulatory heart rhythm diagnostics in pericardioversion atrial fibrillation patients using smartphone photoplethysmography: the SMARTBEATS-ALGO study.Europace : European pacing, arrhythmias, and cardiac electrophysiology : journal of the working groups on cardiac pacing, arrhythmias, and cardiac cellular electrophysiology of the European Society of Cardiology · 2025Article
- Comparative Evaluation of Consumer Wearable Devices for Atrial Fibrillation Detection: Validation Study.JMIR formative research · 2025Article
- Atrial fibrillation signals associated with overactive bladder drugs across JADER and FAERS: disproportionality and time-to-onset analyses.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2025Article
- Evolution in electrophysiology 100 years after Einthoven: translational and computational innovations in rhythm control of atrial fibrillation.Europace : European pacing, arrhythmias, and cardiac electrophysiology : journal of the working groups on cardiac pacing, arrhythmias, and cardiac cellular electrophysiology of the European Society of Cardiology · 2024Review
- Thromboembolic events and vascular dementia in patients with atrial fibrillation and low apparent stroke risk.Nature medicine · 2024Article
- Remote monitoring of atrial fibrillation recurrence using mHealth technology (REMOTE-AF).European heart journal. Digital health · 2024Article
- Diagnostic Performance of an Automated Blood Pressure Monitor With an Irregular Heartbeat Algorithm Designed to Detect Atrial Fibrillation.Circulation reports · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
13 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesTimely diagnosis of atrial fibrillation (AF) is essential to reduce complications from this increasingly common condition. We sought to assess the diagnostic accuracy of smartphone camera photoplethysmography (PPG) compared with conventional electrocardiogram (ECG) for AF detection.
methodsThis is a systematic review of MEDLINE, EMBASE and Cochrane (1980-December 2020), including any study or abstract, where smartphone PPG was compared with a reference ECG (1, 3 or 12-lead). Random effects meta-analysis was performed to pool sensitivity/specificity and identify publication bias, with study quality assessed using the QUADAS-2 (Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies-2) risk of bias tool.
results28 studies were included (10 full-text publications and 18 abstracts), providing 31 comparisons of smartphone PPG versus ECG for AF detection. 11 404 participants were included (2950 in AF), with most studies being small and based in secondary care. Sensitivity and specificity for AF detection were high, ranging from 81% to 100%, and from 85% to 100%, respectively. 20 comparisons from 17 studies were meta-analysed, including 6891 participants (2299 with AF); the pooled sensitivity was 94% (95% CI 92% to 95%) and specificity 97% (96%-98%), with substantial heterogeneity (p<0.01). Studies were of poor quality overall and none met all the QUADAS-2 criteria, with particular issues regarding selection bias and the potential for publication bias.
conclusionPPG provides a non-invasive, patient-led screening tool for AF. However, current evidence is limited to small, biased, low-quality studies with unrealistically high sensitivity and specificity. Further studies are needed, preferably independent from manufacturers, in order to advise clinicians on the true value of PPG technology for AF detection.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.