Accepted for/Published in: JMIR mHealth and uHealth
Date Submitted: Sep 23, 2020
Date Accepted: Aug 5, 2021
(closed for review but you can still tweet)
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
Effectiveness of text messaging on blood pressure control among hypertensive patients: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials
ABSTRACT
Background:
Controlling blood pressure (BP) is an international health concern as the high BP caused 10 million deaths per year. Text messaging was reviewed to have potential effect on BP control, but the dosage of text messaging was not identified in previous reviews resulting a difficult application in practice.
Objective:
The aim of this review was to identify the effectiveness of text messaging on hypertension (HTN) management, with specific focus on the dosage of text messaging, underpinned theoretical framework and the type of combined interventions.
Methods:
systematic review was conducted and reported in accordance with the PRISMA guideline. Randomized controlled trials published till June 2020 were searched from five health related electronic databases. Data was extracted for qualitative synthesis and meta-analysis.
Results:
Twelve studies met the inclusion criteria. The frequency of text messaging delivery varied from daily to biweekly. Health education was identified in four studies as combined intervention with text messaging. Four studies were theory-guided. Seven studies lasted less than 6 months were included in the meta-analysis. The text messaging intervention could decrease the odds of uncontrolled BP (odds ratio = 0.46, P = .02). The theory-guided studies had a small effect to reduce the systolic BP (effect size = 0.35, P < .01) and diastolic BP (effect size = 0.28, P = .01). Text messaging delivered in a less frequency (1 or less per week) also reached the similar effect on systolic BP (effect size = 0.35, P < .01) and diastolic BP (effect size = 0.28, P = .01).
Conclusions:
This review found that the text messaging intervention was effective in BP control. One-way text messaging delivered in a weekly manner was suggested to be effective and easy implementation. If resource is available, tailored two-way text messaging might yield a better effectiveness. Future studies are suggested to use theoretical framework as a guide to explore the mechanism of behavioral change on blood pressure control regarding the use of text messaging intervention.
Citation
