In an effort to continue signing up new participants for their heart research study at groundbreaking speeds, researchers at Stanford launched their iPhone app MyHeart Counts overseas in Hong Kong and the United Kingdom today. The goal is to reach out far and wide — quickly.
To date, about 41,000 users have signed up for the free app launched in March, which allows users to learn about their own heart health while also participating in a large-scale heart study. That’s an unprecedented number of people in such a short amount of time, researchers say, adding that it’s only the beginning. From our press release on today’s launch overseas:
"The idea is to move into one country at a time until we go global," said Euan Ashley MD, a professor of cardiovascular medicine at Stanford and co-investigator for the MyHeart Counts study. "We hope to add more countries every few months.
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"We are ready to take the study as far as it will go. We would like to build a new Framingham heart study for the ages," Ashley said, referring to the long-term cardiovascular study that has followed three generations of participants in Framingham, Massachusetts. "We would like millions of participants."
MyHeart Counts is the first of the initial handful of apps designed using ResearchKit, Apple’s open-source software platform for creating medical-research apps, to expand overseas. Along with its reach into Hong Kong and the U.K., the app is also being upgraded today, providing more information to users about their own heart health and breaking heart health news. The press release gives a brief overview of what the app does:
The free app offers users a simple way to participate in the study, complete tasks and answer surveys from their iPhones. Once every three months, participants are asked to monitor one week’s worth of physical activity, complete a 6-minute walk fitness test if they are able, and enter their risk-factor information. The app now also delivers a comprehensive summary of each user’s heart health and areas for improvement.
Previously: Lights, camera action: Stanford cardiologist discusses MyHeart Counts on ABC's Nightline, Build it (an easy way to join research studies) and the volunteers will come, MyHeart Counts app debuts with a splash and Stanford launches iPhone app to study heart health
