What is the clinical evidence from this study?

Study design: Systematic Review. Population: Hypertension. Intervention: mHealth applications vs. Usual care or non-mHealth control. Primary outcome: Medication adherence and blood pressure reduction.

October 10, 2023Open Access

The impact of mHealth application on improving medication adherence and hypertension management: A systematic review of randomised trials

Key Result

mHealth applications significantly increased medication adherence and lowered blood pressure in 46% of studies, and improved at least one of these outcomes in another 29% of the 24 included trials.

Study Design

Type

Systematic Review

Structured PICO

Does mHealth application use improve medication adherence and reduce blood pressure in hypertensive patients?

Population

A systematic review of 24 randomized controlled trials evaluating the impact of mHealth applications on medication adherence and blood pressure reduction in patients with hypertension.

Intervention

Mobile health (mHealth) applications designed to improve medication adherence and hypertension management (features included reminders, health education, tracking, and motivational messages).

Comparator

Standard care or non-mHealth control groups (as defined by the included RCTs).

Outcome

Medication adherence and blood pressure reduction.

mHealth applications show promise in improving medication adherence and reducing blood pressure in hypertensive patients, though evidence is mixed and limited by short follow-up durations.

Limitations

Only three databases were used for the literature search, potentially missing eligible articles.
No quantitative analysis (meta-analysis) was performed to estimate effect sizes or the strength of correlation.
Most included studies had a short follow-up duration of six months or less.

Abstract

Background: The mobile health (mHealth) application has been used for treating hypertension. However, its effectiveness in enhancing adherence and clinical outcomes in hypertensive patients remains limited. Objective: This study aimed to determine the impact of mHealth apps on medication adherence and reduced blood pressure among hypertensive patients. Method: A systematic review of randomised controlled trials published in Scopus, PubMed, and ScienceDirect from 2008 to 2022 was conducted. Bibliographies of eligible articles were further reviewed. Result: A total of 289 articles were identified, and 24 articles were qualified for inclusion. The mHealth apps improved either medication adherence or reduced blood pressure in seven studies (29%). Eleven studies (46%) showed that it could both increase medication adherence and lower blood pressure significantly. Six studies (25%) reported no improvement in both outcomes. Conclusion: There is a piece of evidence that mHealth apps can improve medication adherence and accordingly reduce blood pressure.

Perguntar à IA

Bookmark

View Full Paper