Arrhythmias & electrophysiology
Accuracy of Smartwatches in the Detection of Atrial Fibrillation: A Systematic Review and Diagnostic Meta-Analysis
An erratum to this article was published (JACC Adv, May 2026 ↗)
Authors' conclusion
Smartwatches possess excellent diagnostic accuracy for AF detection
Study context
- Population
- Patients assessed for atrial fibrillation (AF) with smartwatches; studies published until January 2025
- Participants
- 17,349 patients · 26 studies
- Comparison
- Smartwatches for AF detection
- Outcome
- Sensitivity, specificity and AUC of smartwatches for AF detection
Pooled result
As reported in the abstract
Overall diagnostic accuracy (all smartwatches)
Overall sensitivity
95%
95% CI 92%–97%; I2 = 95%
Overall specificity
97%
95% CI 94%–98%; I2 = 99%
Pooled AUC
0.97
95% CI 0.96%–0.99%
Further pooled results
| Outcome | Apple Watch | Samsung | Withings Scan Watch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accuracy by device | |||
| Sensitivity | 94% (95% CI: 89%-96%; I2 = 71%) | 97% (95% CI: 92%-99%; I2 = 92%) | 89% (95% CI: 75%-96%; I2 = 94%) |
| Specificity | 97% (95% CI: 93%-99%; I2 = 87%) | 96% (95% CI: 91%-98%; I2 = 92%) | 95% (95% CI: 88%-99%; I2 = 93%) |
Photoplethysmography vs ECG-based models
- Accuracy comparable between photoplethysmography and ECG-based models
Original publication
Accuracy of Smartwatches in the Detection of Atrial Fibrillation: A Systematic Review and Diagnostic Meta-Analysis. JACC Adv. Published 3 November 2025. doi:10.
Summarised from the published abstract; every number is checked against it