Wearable devices to monitor symptoms in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Using wearable devices to monitor the symptomatic status of children with Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy.
IRAS ID
314394
Contact name
Juan Pablo Kaski
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
UCLH/UCL Joint Research Office
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Unexplained thickening of the heart (Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy or HCM) is a rare disease in childhood that can
significantly affect quality of life because of symptoms like breathlessness, chest pain and dizziness which can be
debilitating. Treatments are available but assessing symptoms in young children can be difficult. In adults with the disease, symptoms are often associated with a reduced exercise ability. However, exercise tests are not possible for all children with HCM and cannot be used in the very youngest patients (under 7 years). Wearable devices (such as smartwatches) could be used to overcome these difficulties by tracking activity levels in daily life and have shown some promise in adults with the disease. However, they have not previously been tested in children. The aim of this study is to explore if data from wearable devices (such as daily step count) could be used in children with HCM to monitor symptoms. This could allow for earlier treatment and an improvement in the quality of life for these children as well as avoid the need for unpleasant exercise tests. If successful in this disease, such technology could also be used in children with other heart conditions.REC name
West Midlands - Edgbaston Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
23/WM/0214
Date of REC Opinion
25 Oct 2023
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion