Improved Blood Pressure Control Using an Interactive Mobile Phone Support System

Abstract

This explorative, longitudinal study evaluated the effect of the daily use of a mobile phone‐based self‐management support system for hypertension in reducing blood pressure (BP) among 50 primary care patients with hypertension over 8 weeks. The self‐management system comprises modules for (1) self‐reports of BP, pulse, lifestyle, symptoms, and well‐being; (2) delivery of reminders and encouragements; and (3) graphical feedback of self‐reports. Daily use of the support system significantly reduced BP (systolic BP −7 mm Hg, diastolic BP −4.9 mm Hg) between baseline and week 8, with daily improvements leveling off as the study progressed. Three homogenous subsets of patients were identified who, despite different initial BP levels, showed similar decreases in BP during the study, indicating that patients benefited irrespective of baseline BP. In showing significant reductions in BP, our results suggest that the self‐management support system may be a useful tool in clinical practice to help patients self‐manage their hypertension.

Mobile Apps to Support the Self-Management of Hypertension: Systematic Review of Effectiveness, Usability, and User Satisfaction (Preprint)

“…The publication year of the studies ranged from 2012 to 2017 (see Table 1). Most studies (n=11) were conducted in the US [24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32] and Canada [33,34], while seven were carried out in European countries, including France [35], Sweden [36][37][38], Spain [39,40] and Italy [41]. The remaining three studies were conducted in China [42,43] and South Korea [44. Nine studies were randomised controlled trials (RCTs) [24,25,27,28,30,[33][34][35]42], ten were nonrandomised studies [26,29,31,32,37,[39][40][41]43,44], and two were qualitative studies [36,38].…”

“…Participants' average age ranged from 42.4 years [27] to 69.5 [42] years. The population groups of the studies included individuals with hypertension [24][25][26][27][28][29][30]32,[36][37][38][39][41][42][43][44], metabolic syndrome risk factors [34], and obstructive sleep apnoea with high cardiovascular risk [35], as well as overweight individuals [31]. Of the 21 included studies, 5 reported to have used behavioural theories, such as selfdetermination theory [24,26,27], motivational interviewing [30] and theory of planned behaviour [43] to underpin and guide the intervention methods and/or the development of the technology.…”

“…Nine studies aimed to enhance selfmanagement without involving clinicians to monitor patients remotely [29,33,[35][36][37][38][42][43][44]. The other 11 studies mainly involved clinicians or other HCPs remotely monitoring patient data and health status [24][25][26][27][28][30][31][32][39][40][41], whilst the remaining study involved the researcher remotely monitoring patient data and alerting physicians if needed [34,36].…”

“…In most studies an app was supplemented with other interventions, such as a website [28,[36][37][38][39]41], voice telephone messages [33], exercise prescription [34], a nasal mask and an autotitrating machine [35], an electronic medication tray, email, and SMS or phone call [24][25][26][27], and education provided by a nurse [28]. The control group in the controlled studies had usual care.…”

Quality of Blood Pressure Tracking Apps for the iPhone: Content Analysis and Evaluation of Adherence With Home Blood Pressure Measurement Best Practices (Preprint)

“…[18] Focussing on mHealth interventions in hypertension, a small study using a mobile-based self-management support system significantly reduced systolic (-7mmHg) and diastolic (-4.9 mmHg) BP over 8 weeks. [21] Further, a mobile phone based medication reminder application improved adherence and BP among patients with hypertension. [19] Thus, mHealth applications may serve to enhance hypertension control by providing a flexible, convenient platform for patient self-management.…”