Examining the Effectiveness of eHealth Approaches to Blood Pressure Monitoring and Control in Older Adults: A Systematic Review (Preprint)

Abstract

BACKGROUND eHealth monitoring techniques are recommended for tracking changes in patient blood pressure, to verify a diagnosis of hypertension and to assess the suitability of treatment worldwide. However, such techniques are not always effective or are unavailable to all patients. The advent and spread of eHealth technologies has facilitated monitoring of blood pressure and health status remotely in older adults in a clinicially valid and efficient way OBJECTIVE This systematic review was conducted to determine the effectiveness of eHealth interventions on blood pressure control in older adults. METHODS The quantitative review was carried out between January 2017 and February 2022 and included only experimental studies. Several online databases such as MEDLINE, EMBASE, CENTRAL, PsycINFO, PubMed, CINAHL, Web of Science, Scopus, ScienceDirect were searched using the keywords. RESULTS Eleven experimental studies were included in the study. Recent findings offer evidence that eHealth interventions can be useful in improving Eleven experimental studies were included in the study. Recent findings offer evidence that eHealth interventions can be useful in improving monitoring, diagnosing and managing hypertension in older adults. The advantage of eHealth monitoring of blood pressure is promoted, when physicians, nurses or health consultants, are part of the process and other multi-mode interventions including training on lifestyle, risk factors, and drug management are part of the blood pressure monitoring. However, older adults experience some difficulty in monitoring their blood pressure using eHealth interventions. Other findings from the review include eHealth interventions are mostly used in high income countries. The results of these interventions and the digital tools used for older adults differ from each other. The older adults who have access to the internet and can use digital devices can benefit from eHealth interventions. There are a limited number of experimental studies on remote blood pressure monitoring among the older adults. CONCLUSIONS The future development of applications using eHealth, wearable devices or smartwatches is promising for monitoring the blood pressure of older adults and may be considered as a substantial support for health professionals. Blood pressure monitoring via eHealth interventions may disrupt current hypertension management. However, it is not clear which approach will be effective in monitoring the blood pressure of older adults and this should be clarified (i.e. as to whether it will be sustainable in the future). CLINICALTRIAL not needed