Effectiveness of mHealth Interventions in Improving Medication Adherence Among People with Hypertension: a Systematic Review

Abstract

Purpose of review: This study aims to systematically review existing evidence on the effectiveness of mobile health technology (mHealth) interventions in addressing medication adherence among people with hypertension.

Recent findings: Twenty-one studies of mHealth interventions were included in the final review after systematic searching and screening of publications from 2000 to 2017 in PubMed, Web of Science, and Embase. Key features of the mHealth interventions include high intervention intensity, multifactorial components, and patient-centered approaches with tailored content and interaction. All studies found tendencies to improvement in medication adherence, but only 12 studies reported that the improvements were statistically significant in the intervention groups compared with the control groups. Twelve studies also found that mHealth interventions were beneficial for blood pressure control. None of the studies was conducted in a low-income country. Our systematic review found evidence that mHealth interventions improved medication adherence and blood pressure control among people with hypertension. However, most studies were small in sample size and short in study duration, and not all results were statistically significant. Future research should focus on investigating the sustainability and generalizability of mHealth interventions.

Keywords: Hypertension control; Medication adherence; Mobile health; Systematic review.