JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

The high prevalence of hypertension necessitates effective, scalable interventions for blood pressure (BP) control. Self-monitoring has shown improved adherence to medication and better BP management. Mobile applications offer a promising approach with their increasing popularity and potential for large-scale implementation. Studies have demonstrated associations between mobile app interventions and lowered BP, yet real-world data on app effectiveness and engagement remains limited.

Objective:

In this study, we analyzed real-world user data of the Cardi Health mobile app, which is aimed at helping its users monitor and control their BP. Our goal was to find out whether there is an association between the use of the mobile application and a decrease in BP. Additionally, the study explored how engagement with the application may influence the outcome.

Methods:

This was a retrospective chart review study. The initial study population comprised 4407 Cardi Health users who began using the app between January 2022 and April 2022. Users who met the following criteria were included for further investigation. The final study cohort comprised 339 users with elevated BP at the baseline. The sample consisted of 108 (30.23%) males and 231 (69.77%) females (p=0.039).

Results:

The study's main findings were that there is a possible relation between the usage of the Cardi Health mobile application and the decrease in systolic blood pressure. Additionally, there was a significant association between the activity using the application and systolic BP decrease (χ²=5.311, df=1, p=0.0212). Finally, active users had almost two times greater chance of reducing systolic blood pressure by five mmHg or more over four weeks (OR 1.932, 95 % CI [1.074–3.528], p=0.029).

Conclusions:

This study shows a possible relation between the Cardi Health mobile application usage and decreased blood pressure. Additionally, engagement with the application may be related to better results – active users were associated with an almost two-fold increase in odds of reducing their BP by five or more mmHg. Clinical Trial: This retrospective chart review study was performed with obtained permission from BRANI IRB (June 2022, registration ID.: 22‐08‐503‐939).