BPcontrol

Abstract

SummaryBackground: Hypertension or high blood pressure is on the rise. Not only does it affect the elderly but is also increasingly spreading to younger sectors of the population. Treating this condition involves exhaustive monitoring of patients. The current mobile health services can be improved to perform this task more effectively. Objective: To develop a useful, user-friendly, robust and efficient app, to monitor hypertensive patients and adapted to the particular requirements of hypertension. Methods: This work presents BPcontrol, an Android and iOS app that allows hypertensive patients to communicate with their health-care centers, thus facilitating monitoring and diagnosis. Usability, robustness and efficiency factors for BPcontrol were evaluated for different devices and operating systems (Android, iOS and system-aware). Furthermore, its features were compared with other similar apps in the literature. Results: BPcontrol is robust and user-friendly. The respective start-up efficiency of the Android and iOS versions of BPcontrol were 2.4 and 8.8 times faster than a system-aware app. Similar values were obtained for the communication efficiency (7.25 and 11.75 times faster for the Android and iOS respectively). When comparing plotting performance, BPcontrol was on average 2.25 times faster in the Android case. Most of the apps in the literature have no communication with a server, thus making it impossible to compare their performance with BPcontrol. Conclusions: Its optimal design and the good behavior of its facilities make BPcontrol a very promising mobile app for monitoring hypertensive patients.

Mobile Apps to Support the Self-Management of Hypertension: Systematic Review of Effectiveness, Usability, and User Satisfaction

“…The publication year of the studies ranged from 2012 to 2017 (see Multimedia Appendix 1 ). Most studies (11/21, 52%) were conducted in the US [ 24 - 32 ] and Canada [ 33 , 34 ], while 7 (33.3%) were carried out in European countries, including France [ 35 ], Sweden [ 36 - 38 ], Spain [ 39 , 40 ] and Italy [ 41 ]. The remaining 3 (14.3%) studies were conducted in China [ 42 , 43 ] and South Korea [ 44 ].…”

“…Of these studies, 4 (27%) also assessed user satisfaction and experience with the apps [ 27 , 30 , 31 , 39 ]. The remaining 7 (33%) studies that did not report efficacy focused on user satisfaction with and attitudes towards the apps and their usability [ 26 , 32 , 36 , 38 , 40 , 43 , 44 ]. The study duration ranged from 1-12 months.…”

“…The other 11 (52%) studies mainly involved clinicians or other HCPs remotely monitoring patient data and health status [ 24 - 28 , 30 - 32 , 39 - 41 ], while the remaining study involved the researcher remotely monitoring patient data and alerting physicians if needed [ 34 , 36 ]. In these 11 (52%) studies involving HCPs, the HCPs provided feedback, including a medication plan or adjustments [ 24 - 27 , 39 , 41 ], regular online coaching consultation, [ 31 ] instructions [ 28 , 30 ], or communication with patients [ 40 , 42 ] (see Multimedia Appendix 1 ).…”

“…Educational information [ 28 , 29 , 31 , 35 , 39 - 42 , 44 ] and automatic feedback [ 24 - 28 , 30 , 32 , 33 , 36 - 40 , 42 , 44 ] were the next most common features. Of 16 apps, 6 (38%) apps provided a tool for the users to communicate with their families and HCPs [ 28 , 30 - 32 , 39 , 40 ] and 1 app (6%) supported stress management [ 32 ].…”

“…Educational information [ 28 , 29 , 31 , 35 , 39 - 42 , 44 ] and automatic feedback [ 24 - 28 , 30 , 32 , 33 , 36 - 40 , 42 , 44 ] were the next most common features. Of 16 apps, 6 (38%) apps provided a tool for the users to communicate with their families and HCPs [ 28 , 30 - 32 , 39 , 40 ] and 1 app (6%) supported stress management [ 32 ]. Although setting goals is one of the most important techniques in the self-management of hypertension [ 45 ], most included studies reported that goals were set through negotiation and discussion between the patients and their HCPs without explicitly mentioning setting them in the app [ 24 - 27 , 29 - 31 , 34 - 38 , 42 ].…”