FEASIBILITY OF EVALUATION OF POLAR H10 CHEST-BELT ECG IN PATIENTS WITH A BROAD RANGE OF HEART CONDITIONS

Background: The chest-belt can be used to obtain a 1-lead ECG. It was validated for the determination of heart rate and for the possibility to detect atrial fibrillation (AF) compared to ECG-Holter on a short ECG recording in selected patients. Validation of the possibility to evaluate long ECG recordings in patients with heart diseases has not been done.

Methodology and results: 54 hospitalized patients, 53 outpatients and 54 healthy controls were enrolled in the study (n = 161 in total). Using a Polar H10 chest-belt, 1–2 hours of ECG were recorded in all patients (1 153 229 heartbeats, average heart rate 76.6/min, 86.3% in sinus rhythm, 13.7% with atrial fibrillation, 0.46% atrial premature beats, 0.49% ventricular premature beats). The presence of noise was 2.16% (A: 2.31%; B: 1.95%; C: 2.20%). 1 128 319 / 1 153 229 were evaluated as easy to interpret. Using ECG from the belt, the basic rhythm was reliably determined by the physician in majority of patients (51/54, 94.4% in hospitalized patients; in 100% of outpatients and healthy controls) when compared to 12-lead ECG. 3 cases were evaluated as unclear; in all of these cases, all QRS complexes were stimulated by a pacemaker. In hospitalized patients, real-time ECG from the belt was comparable to telemetric ECG monitoring (match in 53/54, 98.1%).

Conclusion: The ECG obtained from the chest-belt in hospitalized patients, outpatients and healthy controls is usable for evaluation of baseline rhythm, atrial fibrillation and premature contractions with a minimal proportion of difficulties to interpret recordings due to artefacts. Caution should be exercised in interpretation of the ECG in patients with stimulated rhythm and in patients with atrial flutter. The chest belt can be used as a means for continuous monitoring of ECG, evaluation of rhythm and screening for atrial fibrillation.