Don’t panic if your watch is beating and your heart is trembling! International research reveals that half of the warnings may be false

Smart watches have become a part of many people's lives, and the various built-in health monitoring functions have become users' "personal doctors." Many people wear them throughout the day to keep an eye on their physical condition. However, the latest international research warns that the "atrial fibrillation detection" function of smart watches may lead to a high rate of "misdiagnosis," causing people to suffer from increased anxiety or unnecessary medical expenses.

According to Korean media reports, a multi-national research team from the United States and Europe analyzed the atrial fibrillation (AFib) detection functions of smart watches such as Apple and Samsung and found that although smart watches can assist in early detection, international journal studies show that in daily life, the proportion of "misdiagnoses" issued by watches will increase significantly.

A joint Danish-Norwegian study published in the Scandinavian Journal of Primary Health Care in 2026 found that although continuous monitoring with wearable devices tripled the diagnosis rate of atrial fibrillation and tripled the prescription rate of anticoagulant drugs, the effect on reducing health risks such as stroke or death was quite weak.

The research team estimated that the proportion of "over-medical treatment" (unhelpful treatment due to minor symptoms that do not pose a threat to health) caused by wearing smart watches is between 8% and 29%. If only cases without physical abnormalities are counted, as many as 47% to 65% of users seek medical treatment due to "misdiagnosis." Experts remind that smart watch alarms can be used as a health reference, but there is no need to panic too much. If people have no relevant symptoms and blindly rely on daily wearable device monitoring, they may fall into the dilemma of ineffective diagnosis and excessive medical treatment.