AF notifications

[pathopeter]

Can anyone tell me what the numbers in an Atrial Fibrillation notifications (eg. 30 - 147) mean?

[LZeeW]

@pathopeter   I participated in the Fitbit Heart Study that helped develop this feature.  I've never received a notification and can't find an example of one when I search internet images.  Atrial fibrillation is a very irregular rhythm.  Your Fitbit can measure heart rate on a beat-to-beat basis.  I think those numbers mean that the slowest heart rate measured was 30 bpm and the fastest was 147 bpm during that time.  Can you post a screenshot of your notification?

Please contact your health care provider about this notification.

[pathopeter]

and thank you for your concern for my health - I am under the care of my
regular GP and a cardiologist for AF.

As it happened, the first notification of an irregular heart beart came
within a couple of days of the feature being offered to me - I turned it
on and the notification came through the next morning. Unfortunately,I was
not able to see a GP for around ten days - he had COVID - and it was
another 6 weeks before I was able to see the cardiologist (Christmas break)
so I probably sustained soem heart damage in the meantime... Nonetheless,
it is probably fair to say that the Fitbit notification saved me from much
more heart damage.

[pathopeter]

Thank you for that advice... I had an inkling tha that was the case, Presumably to two figures represented instataneous heart rate (calculated from the interal between two successfive heart beats) rather than measured heart rate over a defined period of time.

screenshot attached as requested

[LZeeW]

@pathopeter   Do you get more details when you tap on one of the notifications?

[pathopeter]

Indeed, I do - I hadnt even thought of that... LOL

whiel the notes do say that the numbers are beat-to-beat measurements bse don the pulse rate atthe wrist, it is not crystal clear that the numbers are calculat heart bet rates derived from the measured interval between consecutive beats,,, or am I being just too picky and everyone else can see what they mean...?

[LZeeW]

@pathopeter   Thank you for the screenshots.  I don't have the answer for you.  Fitbit described the methodology, but didn't really give the answer to your question.

[Isalva]

i have the same question and can not find a screen print of any irregular rhythm reading as example.  Mine is 38 - 130 bpm and a lot in between 

what means the 38 and how can it be so low?

[Isalva]

I had to wait more than two weeks to see my cardiologist and by then my heart was not in fibrillation but flattering.  it was terrifying, I thought I was going to died any minute.  Damaged it is! 

Doctor sent me to buy my own medication (Amiodarone) in a chemist outside the hospital to stop the flattering, the hospital didn't provide that service.  

[Isalva]

they should explain those readings.  I think!

[pathopeter]

My guess is that the 38 represents a calculated value foe the beats per minute based on the shortest  time interval between two consecutive beats. Again, my guess is that it does not suggest that the heart is routinely beating at 38 beats per minute. With the irregular beating of the heart, it is inevitable that the time interval between beats (and therefore the calculated heart beat rate) will vary, presumably between the two provided numbers  - 38 – 130 in your case - within the time period that FitBit samples.