Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2018 Mar 18:2018:7328274.
doi: 10.1155/2018/7328274. eCollection 2018.

Chinese Mobile Health APPs for Hypertension Management: A Systematic Evaluation of Usefulness

Jun Liang  1   2 , Xiaojun He  3 , Yuxi Jia  4 , Wei Zhu  5 , Jianbo Lei  6   7
Affiliations

Chinese Mobile Health APPs for Hypertension Management: A Systematic Evaluation of Usefulness

Jun Liang et al. J Healthc Eng. .

Abstract

Objective: To analyze and compare the usefulness of hypertension management APPs released in the Chinese market; to understand the general situations, characteristics, problems, and trends in hypertension management mHealth APPs; and to identify the gaps between mainland China products and non-mainland China products with the aim to provide recommendations for developers in industry and assist hypertensive patients in selecting suitable APPs.

Methods: The hypertension management APPs available by October 2016 in China were analyzed from the perspective of data items and function usefulness. Sample sets were determined through PRISMA. An evaluation item set was developed based on the usability framework of TURF and the Chinese Guideline for the Management of Hypertension and used to quantitatively analyze the functionalities and data items collected from the sample APPs from the perspective of designers, users, and activity models.

Results: Among the 73 Chinese-supported APPs, none of the hypertension management APPs could fully cover the usefulness item set (mean = 37.4%). Regarding the use of mobile terminal hardware, only cameras and positioning sensors are commonly used in information collection. Regarding the data items and services provided, the most commonly collected data are "demographic information" (88% versus 100%) and "vital signs" (76% versus 100%), but APPs developed in mainland China and non-mainland China provided significantly different services and profit-making patterns. Regarding data security and privacy protection, the APPs from mainland China provided far lower usefulness (31% versus 56%).

Conclusions: mHealth APPs can promptly and efficiently acquire sign-related data by improving the professionality and scientificity of data about healthy living habits. APPs also improve the preventive usefulness of the collected data and bring about new opportunities for the management and control of hypertension. Other important research trends include privacy protection and data security.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
PRISMA flow diagram.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Distributions of the selected APPs by platform, type, developer, regions, subject area, and multilanguage support.
Figure 3
Figure 3
(a) Selected Android APP score classifications (24 APPs). (b) Selected iOS APP score classifications (49 APPs).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Item score classification. Notes: APP sample size = 73; score item size = 38. Calendar-based reminder (C1~C3); appointed registration (A3); automatic and/or manual data processing (P1, P2); localization service (S1); communication and social networks (S2, S3); popularization, propaganda, and education (A1, A2); others (emergency contact) (E1~E3); others (time axis-based data display) (T1, T2); others (data security and privacy protection) (F1, U1~U5); hypertension prevention and control information records (D1~D9, D11, D12); drug use information records (D10).
Figure 5
Figure 5
Comparison of data element and services between mainland-developed APPs and non-mainland-developed APPs. Notes: mainland-developed APP sample size = 49; non-mainland-developed APP sample size = 24; score item size = 38. Calendar-based reminder (C1~C3); appointed registration (A3); automatic and/or manual data processing (P1, P2); localization service (S1); communication and social networks (S2, S3); popularization, propaganda, and education (A1, A2); others (emergency contact) (E1~E3); others (time axis-based data display) (T1, T2); others (data security and privacy protection) (F1, U1~U5); hypertension prevention and control information records (D1~D9, D11, D12); drug use information records (D10).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Report on the Status of nutrition Nutrition and Chronic Diseases of Chinese Residents (2015) Beijing: National Health and Family Planning Commission of the PRC; 2015. May 30, 2016, http://www.nhfpc.gov.cn/xcs/s3574/201506/6b4c0f873c174ace9f57f11fd4f6f8d....
    1. Lewington S., Lacey B., Clarke R., et al. The burden of hypertension and associated risk for cardiovascular mortality in China. JAMA Internal Medicine. 2016;176(4):524–532. doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2016.0190. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Zhu C. Healthy China 2020 Strategic Research Report. Beijing: National Health and Family Planning Commission of the PRC; 2013.
    1. Chia Y.-C., Buranakitjaroen P., Chen C.-H., et al. Current status of home blood pressure monitoring in Asia: statement from the HOPE Asia Network. The Journal of Clinical Hypertension. 2017;19(11):1192–1201. doi: 10.1111/jch.13058. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Wood P. W., Boulanger P., Padwal R. S. Home blood pressure telemonitoring: rationale for use, required elements, and barriers to implementation in Canada. The Canadian Journal of Cardiology. 2017;33(5):619–625. doi: 10.1016/j.cjca.2016.12.018. - DOI - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources