Despite effective treatment being available, many patients with arterial hypertension do not achieve adequately-controlled blood pressure (BP). A Reasons include lack of patient education and low therapy adherence. A Holistic Digital Health Program Hypertension was developed to educate patients and assist them with lifestyle modification, home BP measurement via connected devices and medication management according to current guidelines. Telemedicine via video-consultation was provided when needed. This study investigated whether BP lowering could be achieved through the Digital Health Program.
METHODS:
a cohort of 40 consecutive patients without adequately-controlled hypertension and current systolic BP >130 mmHg (measured at home) were treated over 90 days.
RESULTS:
systolic BP at baseline was 140.3 ±10.0 mmHg and was highly significantly lowered by -12.1 ±8.7 mmHg after 90 days [mean ±standard deviation], p<0.0001. Treatment response was seen in almost all patients (39/40). BP decreased continuously over time. Antihypertensive medication was unchanged or even reduced in the majority of patients. High therapy adherence was seen, with 79% of educational content viewed and 2.1 BP measurements performed daily vs. goal of 3 times daily. Blood pressure lowering was significant in all subgroups analyzed, including: patients > 70 years vs. younger patients, and patients with higher BP at baseline vs. patients with lower baseline BP.
CONCLUSION:
the Holistic Digital Health Program effectively lowered BP in patients with hypertension. In most patients, BP lowering was seen despite unchanged or even reduced antihypertensive medication. The effects were robust across subgroups, including elderly patients and patients with higher BP at baseline. An RCT with > 500 patients will be performed to confirm the results.
FIGURE: Mean systolic blood pressure at baseline and after 90 d of treatment with the Holistic Digital Health Program (n = 40; mean ± std)
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