Blood pressure monitoring on Galaxy Watches could help Parkinson’s disease patients

All recent Samsung smartwatches—Galaxy Watch Active 2, Galaxy Watch 3, and Galaxy Watch 4 series—feature blood pressure monitoring. A recent study published in the medical journal Frontiers in Neurology has revealed that blood pressure monitoring on Galaxy Watches could help patients with Parkinson's disease easily manage Orthostatic Hypotension (OH).

Orthostatic Hypotension, a common issue found among Parkinson's disease patients, is a form of low blood pressure caused by blood vessels failing to constrict. It comes with risks of falls among elderly patients or those who have heart-related issues. Galaxy Watches with blood pressure monitoring can help detect fluctuations for diagnosing and managing Parkinson's disease.

The Galaxy Watch Active 2, Galaxy Watch 3, Galaxy Watch 4, and the Galaxy Watch 4 Classic use pulse wave analysis using heart rate sensors to monitor blood pressure. Samsung Medical Center's Dr. Jin Whan Cho and Dr. Jong Hyeon Ahn compared blood pressure readings of the Galaxy Watch 3 with a sphygmomanometer to compare the accuracy of Samsung's smartwatches. The test found that readings from the Galaxy Watch 3 were comparable.

The test was conducted on 56 patients with an average age of 66.9 years. The mean and standard deviations of the differences between the Galaxy Watch 3 and the sphygmomanometer were 0.4 ± 4.6 mmHg for systolic BP (SBP). For diastolic BP (DBP), the deviations were 1.1 ± 4.5 mmHg. The correlation coefficient (r) between them was 0.967 for SBP and 0.916 for DBP, which means that the two devices are extremely close.

The research team said, “Orthostatic hypotension is a common and challenging symptom that affects people living with PD. But it is hard to screen just by observing symptoms, and the problem may go undetected when measuring BP. If we could use a smartwatch to measure patients’ BP regularly and detect potential issues at an early stage, it would really help treat and manage PD.”

The blood pressure monitoring is available on select Galaxy Watches via the Samsung Health Monitor app in the following countries:

1. Austria
2. Australia
3. Brazil
4. Belgium
5. Bulgaria
6. Chile
7. Croatia
8. Czech Republic
9. Cyprus
10. Denmark
11. Estonia
12. Finland
13. France
14. Georgia
15. Germany
16. Greece
17. Hong Kong
18. Hungary
19. Iceland
20. Indonesia
21. Ireland
22. Italy
23. South Korea
24. Latvia
25. Lithuania
26. Netherlands
27. Norway
28. Peru
29. Poland
30. Portugal
31. Russia
32. Romania
33. Slovakia
34. Slovenia
35. Spain
36. Sweden
37. Switzerland
38. Thailand
39. UAE
40. UK

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