For Self-Measured BP, Smartphone App No Better Than Standard Device

MONDAY, Aug. 15, 2022 (HealthDay News) — Enhanced self-measured blood pressure (SMBP) paired with a connected smartphone application is not superior to standard SMBP for reducing BP, according to a study published online Aug. 15 in JAMA Internal Medicine.

Mark J. Pletcher, M.D., M.P.H., from the University of California in San Francisco, and colleagues examined whether enhanced SMBP paired with a connected smartphone application is superior to standard SMBP for BP reduction or patient satisfaction in a randomized trial conducted among 23 health systems. Eligible participants were randomly assigned to enhanced SMBP using a device that paired with a connected smartphone application or a standard device (1,051 and 1,050 participants, respectively).

The researchers found that from baseline to six months, the mean change in systolic BP was −10.8 versus −10.6 mm Hg for enhanced versus standard. The results for the secondary outcomes were mostly null, with the exception of documented attainment of BP control to lower than 140/<90 mm Hg, which occurred in 32 and 29 percent of the enhanced and standard groups, respectively (odds ratio, 1.15). Most of the participants in both groups were very likely to recommend their SMBP device to a friend (70 percent enhanced and 69 percent standard).

“Enhanced SMBP does not provide any additional reduction in BP, and patients would not recommend an enhanced SMBP device to their peers more than a standard device,” the authors write.

Two authors disclosed financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry.

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