Ambulatory heart rhythm monitoring experience and engagement are influenced by patient factors (demographics, education) and device factors (skin irritation), based on a scoping review of 54 studies.
What factors affect patient preferences, experiences, and engagement with ambulatory heart rhythm monitoring?
Patient and device factors, including education, expectations, and device-specific issues like skin irritation, are key considerations for improving engagement with ambulatory heart rhythm monitoring.
Objective To review the literature reporting patient preferences for ambulatory heart rhythm monitoring (AHRM) and what factors affect experience and engagement. Background The prevalence of arrhythmia continues to rise and contributes significantly to outpatient care burden. There is limited understanding of patient experience and compliance with monitoring. As innovative technologies are developed and healthcare strategies move towards surveillance and prevention, understanding this is key. Methods A scoping review was conducted using guidance from the Joanna Briggs Institute and reported using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews. The review included studies of adults under investigation or surveillance for arrhythmia with a range of devices (Holter monitor, patch device, event recorder, mobile cardiac telemetry, external and implantable loop recorders, wearables and other implantable cardiac devices) in ambulatory care settings worldwide. The final search was conducted on 3 January 2026 across Medline (PubMed), Embase (Ovid), Web of Science (Clarivate Analytics), Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (EBSCOhost), PsycINFO (Ovid) and Google Scholar. Quantitative, qualitative, mixed methods, multiple methods and any type of review articles were included. Results 54 studies were eligible for inclusion from the initial search that identified 1320 articles. Two overarching themes emerged from the quantitative and qualitative data: patient factors and device factors affecting experience and engagement. Patient factors included clinical and demographic factors, education and expectations, experience and preferences and impact on daily life and healthcare. Device factors could be common to several devices, for example, skin irritation or device specific, for example, the nature of activation. Conclusion Patient and device factors influence preferences for and experience and engagement with AHRM. While existing literature is incomplete and heterogeneous, it identifies key considerations that should be integrated into the development and testing of novel approaches for arrhythmia surveillance in healthcare contexts. Registration https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/6K3W8 (Open Science Framework).
Bennett et al. (Fri,) conducted a review in Arrhythmia (n=54). Ambulatory heart rhythm monitoring (AHRM) was evaluated on Patient preferences, experience and engagement factors. Ambulatory heart rhythm monitoring experience and engagement are influenced by patient factors (demographics, education) and device factors (skin irritation), based on a scoping review of 54 studies.