The survey is available here.

Smartphones and smartwatches, such as Fitbit, help track our fitness and activity, and can provide insights into our cardiovascular health.  

This information is a realistic reflection of our activity and health because it is gathered over long periods in home settings, complementing snapshots recorded in hospitals or GP practices.  

The research team at the BHF Data Science Centre hope that a new app could give valuable insights into why heart and circulatory diseases develop, and enable earlier diagnoses of these conditions. 

To help design the app, they are seeking your opinion about what data to collect, and any concerns about aspects such as privacy. 

Professor Tim Chico, Associate Director of the BHF Data Science Centre and NHS consultant cardiologist, said, “This is an exciting time to work in cardiovascular health as digital devices have the potential to provide valuable information to guide decisions on diagnosis and treatment. However, digital apps must be evidence-based, and developed by working closely with patients and the public. It is vital to build trust and design an app that can improve healthcare and not compromise privacy.” 

The survey will ask how data gathered from wearable devices like fitness watches and health-tracking apps on phones could be used to improve heart and circulatory health, and how people feel about sharing data for research.  

Once the app has been developed, it will be tested to assess how well it tracks health information, and how this data can assist doctors in diagnosing heart conditions. 

Everyone, regardless of their background or lifestyle, is welcome to participate, whether or not you currently use fitness watches or health-tracking apps, or have doubts or uncertainties about this approach. 

Dr Jackie MacArthur, Scientific Programme Manager at the BHF Data Science Centre, said, “We want the opinions gathered in this survey to reflect the diversity of the population, so we encourage everyone to share the link with their families and friends to help gather input from as many people across the country as possible.” 

The survey takes around 10 minutes to complete.

Thank you for taking part! 

The BHF Data Science Centre is the UK centre of expertise for cardiovascular data science. It aims to create strong partnerships to health data science infrastructure and reduce barriers for research, and to involve patients and the public to build trust and ensure that its work meets people’s needs. 

For more information please contact us at bhfdsc@hdruk.ac.uk