The Association Between Smartphone App-Based Self-monitoring of Hypertension-Related Behaviors and Reductions in High Blood Pressure: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Self-monitoring of behavior can support lifestyle modifications; however, we do not know whether such interventions are effective in supporting positive changes in hypertension-related health behaviors and thus in reducing blood pressure in patients treated for hypertension. OBJECTIVE: This systematic literature review evaluates the extent to which smartphone app-based self-monitoring of health behavior supports reductions in blood pressure and changes in hypertension-related behaviors. It also explores the behavioral components that might explain intervention effectiveness. METHODS: A systematic search of 7 databases was conducted in August 2021. Article screening, study and intervention coding, and data extraction were completed independently by reviewers. The search strategy was developed using keywords from previous reviews and relevant literature. Trials involving adults, published after the year 2000, and in the English language were considered for inclusion. The random-effects meta-analysis method was used to account for the distribution of the effect across the studies. RESULTS: We identified 4638 articles, of which 227 were included for full-text screening. A total of 15 randomized controlled trials were included in the review. In total, 7415 patients with hypertension were included in the meta-analysis. The results indicate that app-based behavioral self-monitoring interventions had a small but significant effect in reducing systolic blood pressure (SBP), on average, by 1.64 mmHg (95% CI 2.73-0.55, n=7301; odds ratio [OR] 1.60, 95% CI 0.74-3.42, n=114) and in improving changes in medication adherence behavior (standardized mean difference [SMD] 0.78, 95% CI 0.22-1.34) compared to usual care or minimal intervention. The review found the intervention had a small effect on supporting improvements in healthy diet by changing habits related to high sodium food (SMD -0.44, 95% CI -0.79 to -0.08) and a trend, although insignificant, toward supporting smoking cessation, low alcohol consumption, and better physical activity behaviors. A subgroup analysis found that behavioral self-monitoring interventions combined with tailored advice resulted in higher and significant changes in both SBP and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) in comparison to those not providing tailored advice (SBP: -2.92 mmHg, 95% CI -3.94 to -1.90, n=3102 vs -0.72 mmHg, 95% CI -1.67 to 0.23, n=4199, χ2=9.65, P=.002; DBP: -2.05 mmHg, 95% CI -3.10 to -1.01, n=968 vs 1.54 mmHg, 95% CI -0.53 to 3.61, n=400, χ2=9.19, P=.002). CONCLUSIONS: Self-monitoring of hypertension-related behaviors via smartphone apps combined with tailored advice has a modest but potentially clinically significant effect on blood pressure reduction. Future studies could use rigorous methods to explore its effects on supporting changes in both blood pressure and hypertension-related health behaviors to inform recommendations for policy making and service provision. TRIAL REGISTRATION: PROSPERO CRD42019136158; https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=136158.

The feasibility of the PAM intervention to support treatment-adherence in people with hypertension in primary care: a randomised clinical controlled trial.

The PAM intervention is a behavioural intervention to support adherence to anti-hypertensive medications and therefore to lower blood pressure. This feasibility trial recruited 101 nonadherent patients (54% male, mean age 65.8 years) with hypertension and high blood pressure from nine general practices in the UK. The trial had 15.5% uptake and 7.9% attrition rate. Patients were randomly allocated to two groups: the intervention group (n = 61) received the PAM intervention as an adjunct to usual care; the control group (n = 40) received usual care only. At 3 months, biochemically validated medication adherence was improved by 20% (95% CI 3-36%) in the intervention than control, and systolic blood pressure was reduced by 9.16 mmHg (95% CI 5.69-12.64) in intervention than control. Improvements in medication adherence and reductions in blood pressure suggested potential intervention effectiveness. For a subsample of patients, improvements in medication adherence and reductions in full lipid profile (cholesterol 1.39 mmol/mol 95% CI 0.64-1.40) and in glycated haemoglobin (3.08 mmol/mol, 95% CI 0.42-5.73) favoured the intervention. A larger trial will obtain rigorous evidence about the potential clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of the intervention.Trial registration Trial date of first registration 28/01/2019. ISRCTN74504989. https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN74504989 .