Improving patient engagement in self-measured blood pressure monitoring using a mobile health technology

Alan L Kaplan; Erica R Cohen; Eyal Zimlichman

doi:10.1007/s13755-017-0026-9

Improving patient engagement in self-measured blood pressure monitoring using a mobile health technology

Health Inf Sci Syst. 2017 Oct 7;5(1):4. doi: 10.1007/s13755-017-0026-9. eCollection 2017 Dec.

Authors

Alan L Kaplan¹, Erica R Cohen², Eyal Zimlichman³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Urology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, 10833 Le Conte Ave, Box 951738, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1738 USA.
² Department of Medicine, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA USA.
³ Department of Medicine, Sheba Medical Center, Ramat Gan, Israel.

Abstract

Objective: To understand usage patterns and clinical efficacy of Hello Heart, an mHealth technology application designed to facilitate patient engagement in managing hypertension.

Methods: In this single-arm observational study, all subjects with ≥2 blood pressure (BP) recordings were included. The cohort was divided into subgroups by weeks passed since download that patients were still recording measurements. Changes in BP were compared between subgroups.

Results: Of 5115 eligible subjects, 3803 (74%) recorded BP for ≥2 weeks. In the 4-week subgroup, 23% achieved BP reduction of ≥10 mmHg versus 24% in the 22-week subgroup (p < 0.001). Among 783 subjects reporting baseline hypertension 57% of the 4-week and 69% of the 22-week subgroups achieved BP normalization (all p < 0.001).

Conclusions: We show significant decrease in BP with improved metrics over time. Higher engagement was associated with greater BP reduction and engagement was higher among those with greater clinical need of BP control.

Practice implications: Hello Heart represents an operational mHealth technology to improve patient engagement and clinical outcomes.

Keywords: Blood pressure; Hypertension; Patient engagement; mHealth.