Age is just a number in the digital age

Age is one of the conflicting issues in the era of digitized healthcare. Specifically, access to digital tools, such as mhealth apps, wearables and other IoT devices may be limited for older individuals. In the Smart in OAC- AFNET 9 trial the investigators aimed to investigate the feasibility and effectiveness of the use of smartphone and wearables for a simplified detection of AF in older individuals. The results of the study by Fabritz et al., published recently in the European Heart Journal- Digital Health, demonstrated that the fully digital remote screening for AF in older individuals (mean age of the participants 71.5±5 years, 57% women) is feasible, while during the monitoring period of 4 weeks atrial arrhythmias were identified in 5% of the study participants. Both the study design and the results are very interesting. Beyond the dynamic of digital transformation in healthcare, this study demonstrates that age is just a number. Patient-centered approaches towards customized and personalized digital tools will revolutionize disease screening, monitoring and managing.
 
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