Home blood pressure telemonitoring in the 21st century

Abstract

Blood pressure telemonitoring (BPT) is a telehealth strategy that allows remote data transmission of blood pressure and additional information on patients' health status from their dwellings or from a community setting to the doctor's office or the hospital. There is sufficiently strong evidence from several randomized controlled trials that the regular and prolonged use of BPT combined with telecounseling and case management under the supervision of a team of healthcare professionals is associated with a significant blood pressure reduction compared with usual care, particularly in cases of patients at high risk. However, most current evidence is based on studies of relatively short duration (<12 months), and in the few studies that have investigated longer-term outcomes, no evidence of better or sustained effect could be provided. In addition, no definition of the optimal BPT-based healthcare delivery model could be derived from the studies performed so far, because of the heterogeneity of interventions, technologies, and study designs. BPT can also be provided in the context of "mobile health" (m-health) wireless solutions, together with educational support, medication reminders, and teleconsultation. When BPT is integrated in an m-health solution, it has the potential to promote patient's self-management, as a complement to the doctor's intervention, and encourage greater participation in medical decision-making. In conclusion, BPT has a potential key role in the management of patients with hypertension, since it seems to improve the quality of delivered care and allow for more effective prevention of the cardiovascular consequences of hypertension.

Keywords: blood pressure telemonitoring; hypertension; m-health; telemedicine.