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.

Methods: We analyzed data from the Pulsewatch study, a randomized controlled trial (NCT03761394). Participants in the intervention group wore a cardiac patch monitor in addition to a smartwatch for AF detection, whereas the control group wore only the cardiac patch monitor. Generalized anxiety disorder-7 scale, Consumer Health Activation Index and short-form health survey were completed to assess anxiety, patient activation, physical and mental health status at baseline, 14, and 44 days. We used a longitudinal linear regression model to examine changes in psychosocial outcomes in low (<$50K) vs. high (>$50K) income groups.

Results: A total of 95 participants (average age 64.9± 9.1 years; 57.9% male; 89.5% non-Hispanic white) were included. History of renal disease (p-value 0.029), statin use (p-value 0.034), depression (p-value 0.004), and anxiety (p-value <0.001), were different between the income groups. In the adjusted model, the low-income group was associated with increased anxiety (β 2.75, p-value 0.0003), and decreased physical health status (β -5.07, p-value 0.02). There was no change identified in self-reported patient engagement and mental health status score.

Conclusion: Our findings demonstrate that low SES is associated with worse self-reporting of physical health status, and this may influence psychosocial outcomes in smartwatch users.