Will the watch accurately record heart rate if you have atrial fibrillation?

Hi

Information about how and when Apple Watch measures your heart rate - and about some of the factors that can affect the reliability of readings - is available here:

Your heart rate. What it means, and where on Apple Watch you’ll find it. - Apple Support

Note that Apple Watch, the heart rate sensor and the included Apple Watch apps are not medical devices and are intended for fitness purposes only. They are not designed or intended for use in the diagnosis of disease or other conditions, or in the cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease.

More information:

https://help.apple.com/watch/#/apdcf2ff54e9

Ah, so many of us want simple answers. There is no yes/no answer to that question. Afib exhibits an uneven and varying strength pulse rate. As it's uneven, the watch may or may not sense every beat. So the general answer is no. But Afib also results in a very rapid heart rate, so IF the watch senses every beat it will show a very high heart rate.

So I guess the answer is that an Apple watch is not an appropriate tool for diagnosing afib. But if you have an afib incident you will know it immediately from the external symptoms (weakness, palpitations, irregular pulse), and you can easily check it yourself by feeling your pulse.

If you were to purchase a pulse oximeter, that basically does the same thing as the apple watch, it would also not be able to diagnose/identify Afib on its own; so I would very much doubt that the apple watch would be able to do it. You could however use it to assist you with managing the issue but not as a stand alone item to do so.

I agree with your conclusion and the remarks of the above contributors.

I would add, however, that you may (if you wish) contribute to atrial fibrillation research using an Apple Watch as described here:

http://www.macrumors.com/2016/06/09/cardiogram-app-update-native-apple-watch-sup port/

(I have no financial interest in this study. I am a participant - "customer".)