Usefulness of a Portable Internet - enabled ECG Recording System for Monitoring Heart Health among Japanese Workers Residing

In recent times, the immense stress that most individuals suffer due to work and life pressure has been a significant social problem. Although the relationship between work-related stress and death has not been firmly established, previous studies have found that individuals with considerable work-related stress have a 5−20% higher probability of suffering from cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) than those with low work-related stress , and this association between CVDs and work stress has been corroborated by several other studies. In 2008, the World Health Organization (WHO) claimed that CVDs alone were responsible for 30% of the total deaths globally, and this value has been increasing annually. The WHO also reported that over 50% of CVD-related deaths can be prevented by proper patient monitoring. In 2012, 18,490,667 Japanese individuals emigrated from Japan, and over 537 Japanese individuals died abroad, mainly because of cerebrovascular diseases or CVDs. Individuals who reside abroad are unable to undergo routine health checkups, which greatly increases the probability of sudden death. One solution for this problem is a portable system for monitoring health status. Transtelephonic electrocardiographic event monitors (TTMs) have proved useful and cost effective for evaluation of adults with palpitations, syncope, or presyncope. Thus, a portable capacitive electrocardiogram (ECG) may be suitable for the diagnosis of myocardial infarction. In fact, an Abstract: Usefulness of a Portable Internet-enabled ECG Recording System for Monitoring Heart Health among Japanese Workers Residing Abroad: Isamu KABE, et al. Health Administration Department, Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd.—Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the usefulness of a portable Internet-enabled ECG recording system (iECG) in monitoring the heart health of Japanese individuals working abroad. Methods: This study included 24 male Japanese individuals working abroad, who had been found to have risks of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) at periodic health checkups. The subjects were instructed to send ECG recordings obtained by the iECG via a personal computer from their countries of residence. Interpretations of the ECG results were shared with the participant and the participant’s occupational physician via e-mail. Further, a questionnaire survey was conducted among the subjects to determine the usefulness of the iECG. Results: Only 21 subjects (53.7 ± 5.2 years) could send their ECG recordings from their countries of residence. During the monitoring period (average, 0.7 ± 0.3 years), 504 ECG recordings were obtained using the iECG. No new CVD events were observed. The iECG monitoring recorded ST-T abnormality in 4 subjects (19%), ST-T abnormality plus left bundle branch block in 1 subject (5%), bradycardia in 1 subject (5%), atrial fibrillation in 1 subject (5%), short PR interval in 1 subject (5%) and normal findings in 13 subjects (61%). The questionnaire results showed Usefulness of a Portable Internet-enabled ECG Recording System for Monitoring Heart Health among Japanese Workers Residing Abroad