Carl F. T. Harris
Ken WhiteCan anyone recommend a simple AFIB monitor -- maybe a watch or something -- suitable for an older person who is not super tech sophisticated?
No not me.
Michael Gemar@Popehat The Apple Watch will monitor AFIB, although if that's the primary thing it's being purchased for, it may be more expensive than you want. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT212214
Gavin Werbeloff@michaelgemar @Popehat between the heart monitoring and the fall detection, Apple Watch is a solid choice.
Richard Grant@michaelgemar @Popehat I've been using the Apple Watch to monitor my AFIB for a few years now. I'm not certain, but I think this functionality may now be available in the less-expensive Watch SE series, which starts at $249US. The process of taking an ECG is pretty simple: open the built-in app, hold one finger of the opposite hand in contact with the watch crown for 30 seconds -- done.
David Senk@Popehat if you’re genuinely serious… have your doctor get you a Holter monitor.
If you’re just curious… the newer Apple Watches allegedly have really good accuracy here.
https://southflcardio.com/is-the-apple-watch-heart-monitor-accurate/
Is The Apple Watch Heart Monitor Accurate? - southflcardio
What’s more to look for when you can get a heart monitor in hand at all times? With the Apple Watch’s integrated features, you can now monitor your heart’s functioning accurately and precisely, at the mere distance of your wrist.
Tina 
Lyssandri@Lyssandri @Popehat I’m personally boycotting Samsung for life on all of their products, so I have no comment on their products other than that.
I, personally, would not recommend Samsung for any reason.
Elizabeth Raine
Peter Loats@Popehat I use both the Apple Watch (afib monitoring seems to work well) and a Kardia (https://www.kardia.com ) two-finger EKG device that communicates with my phone. Apple Watch requires an iPhone - but not the worst to set up if they have one. Kardia also requires a Smart phone but Android is also supported.
Since I have an iPhone I’ve never looked into any other standalone devices. Both of them reliably detect my afib.
JLab8@Popehat my FIL has a Kardia, it seems pretty straightforward to use, but it does require a smartphone and app.
JJ Peterson@Popehat Apple Watch seems to have some afib monitoring capability. It monitors heart rate and checks for anomalies periodically. An older person I know thinks overall the watch is pretty helpful in health monitoring and inspiring more fitness. (It’s me.)
Michael J. Coffey@Popehat A friend of mine uses the Apple Watch (and maybe an app?) for this. He is very tech sophisticated, but not sure what's required for the watch/app to work at a baseline level.
GeoWend@Popehat
FITVII Fitness Tracker with 24/7 Heart Rate and Blood Pressure Monitor, Blood Oxygen HRV Sleep Tracking Smart Watch, Calorie Step Counter IP68 Waterproof Pedometer Activity Tracker for Women Men https://a.co/d/2rZLHZr is what i ordered for myself. Will hopefully be able to say more after it arrives
FITVII Fitness Tracker with 24/7 Heart Rate and Blood Pressure Monitor, Blood Oxygen HRV Sleep Tracking Smart Watch, Calorie Step Counter IP68 Waterproof Pedometer Activity Tracker for Women Men https://a.co/d/2rZLHZr is what i ordered for myself. Will hopefully be able to say more after it arrives
John 🇺🇸🏳️🌈@Popehat my dad wears the Apple Watch in part because it can monitor for afib, but you have to tell it you don’t have afib during setup or else it won’t actually tell you when you’re in afib.
Gary Guss@Popehat I have a Sonohealth monitor it works but signal is noisy.. I'd get an Apple watch instead.. I have paroxysmal AFib, really not sure what good these things do. Kind of increase anxiety without a lot of benefit.. Take eliquis, get under care of competent cardiologist and go on with your life
@Popehat Apple Watch Series 6
Bzavier@Popehat Withings has a watch that looks like one, long battery, and good monitoring. Needs a phone though. https://www.withings.com/us/en/scanwatch
arcofjustice@Popehat Kardia app a monitor. It seems to be more accurate than the watch.
Cat West@Popehat my Apple Watch alerted me and saved my life. I never had any AFIB issues before and actually thought the watch was broken. I spent 8 hrs in ER learning it was correct. Also, I hear Kardia Mobile ($99) is excellent.
🏳️🌈 Lucy Wildboots 
@Popehat An Apple Watch is not hard to set up, because set up is done on your iPhone. That would be the downside. The upside is that I track AFIB, blood oxygen, pulse & fall.
My watch freed me. I felt more confident going out alone to take photos & it worked. Because I did fall down. Fortunately I got up, but you get my point.
@LucyWildboots When I say not tech sophisticated I mean she doesn't have an iPhone or any apple products.
Ken
A Byrd@Popehat My husband has an implanted S-ICD but they do make other non-implanted ICD monitors that a cardiologist could talk to you more about. It will monitor for AFIB and shock the heart back into rhythm if it falls below or above certain parameters, thus hopefully giving time to get to a hospital. If the need is serious, that would be the best medical device to use. Otherwise, any fit watch should be able to monitor heart rate now 🤷♀️
Amelia Lewis@Popehat The WIthings ScanWatch annoys the living sense out of me, but it has a classic design, and I keep it to monitor my afib and heartrate. Very simple interface on the wrist (including analog face). Drawbacks: for me, it had to be paired with an iPad in order to enable the afib monitoring in the US (they may have fixed this by now, but it would have to be paired with something). If its other health obsessive behaviors bother me enough, I'll prolly switch to Kardia.
beverly_gardner@Popehat My 90-year-old uncle uses an Apple Watch to monitor for afib. He is not super tech savvy.
Nick Messick@Popehat Apple Watch
RanchoApocalypto@Popehat - Hubs has used AliveCor KardiaMobile to great effect - Costs < $100, there's a bit of a tech learning curve but your AFIB patient can (1) do their own ECGs by touching a metal pad with their thumbs and (2) emailing the 'grams to their MDs. 10/10 would recommend to anyone. Cheers from SW NM!
AT Hayes@Popehat Is “Not Me” in the room with you now, Billy?
Bob@Popehat I *think* that's what the ECG function on my Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 does. It's not continuous though; you have to choose to test your heart rhythm. On my watch, you touch a finger to each of two buttons.
Camila Londoño@Popehat I'm a fan of the Withings ScanWatch for its data and privacy policies, which seemed better than every other option. However, it only works well when your pulse is under 100bpm, so it might not be suitable (not sure if other options work at higher rates)
BlakeTapper@Popehat the Samsung watch is effective as is the apple watch.
@Popehat Some opinions here, including Apple Watch: https://theskepticalcardiologist.com/category/atrial-fibrillation/
_keith_smith_💡@Popehat Another +1 for the Apple Watch from me. Someone very close to me developed AFIB, they’d not known until the Watch alerted them at 3am one morning. Went to A&E - AFIB confirmed in progress.
That’s happened twice now.
They have since seen a cardiologist, and they reviewed not only the ECG plots produced by A&E, but also the ECG plots exported from the Watch. They seemed impressed.
David Willmore@Popehat @jeffjarvis Any ideas?
Jeff Jarvis@jeffjarvis @Popehat Thank you, sir!
PalMD@Popehat I use the Kardia thingie that goes on your knee and sends your arrhythmias to the app on the phone. https://shop.alivecor.com/kardiamobile6l
