Willingness to pay for blood pressure self-monitoring in people with pre-hypertension

Prehypertension is defined as blood pressure (BP) between 120–139/80–89 mmHg. It affects around 40% of adults, increasing their risk of developing hypertension and cardiovascular disease-related conditions. The “Risk rEduction interVEntion for Raised blood preSsurE” (REVERSE) feasibility study investigated whether self-monitoring of BP was acceptable and feasible for managing prehypertension. As part of REVERSE, a willingness-to-pay (WTP) analysis assessed the economic value of the BP self-monitoring intervention. A WTP questionnaire asked participants how much and why they would be willing to pay for a BP machine and for additional support and training around BP self-monitoring. The associations between the total WTP amount (for the BP machine plus the additional support and training) and participants’ socio-demographic and clinical characteristics were investigated using generalised linear modelling (GLM). WTP data was collected from 66 participants (median age: 58.50 years; females: 59.09%). Most of the participants (72.73%) lived in areas of low socio-economic deprivation. The median total WTP amount was £41.37 in 2024 prices (interquartile range: £36.20 to £93.09). The BP machine functions/facilities, the amount reflecting potential benefit, and being a reasonable value were the most cited reasons behind the valuations. The GLM regression showed that higher WTP values were associated with the functions/facilities and potential benefit of the BP machine. We believe this to be the first study to provide insights around the economic value of BP self-monitoring in prehypertension. Further research based on larger, and more representative, samples is needed to validate these findings.