Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Human Factors
Date Submitted: Sep 7, 2023
Date Accepted: Dec 31, 2024
Benefits and barriers to mHealth in hypertension care: a qualitative study with German Health Care Professionals
ABSTRACT
Background:
Digital health technologies, such as mHealth apps and wearables, have emerged as valuable tools in the prevention of hypertension. They facilitate lifestyle modifications, enhance home blood pressure monitoring, and improve treatment adherence within hypertension care.
Objective:
This study aimed to explore the perceived benefits and barriers associated with the use of mHealth apps in routine hypertension care, as perceived by healthcare professionals (HCPs) in their daily practice. Furthermore, the study aimed to identify strategies for overcoming these barriers.
Methods:
A qualitative study was conducted using semistructured interviews. General practitioners (10), cardiologists (14) and nurses (3) were recruited through purposive sampling from October 2022 to March 2023. Verbatim transcripts were analyzed using qualitative content analysis.
Results:
Three overarching themes emerged in relation to benefits of mHealth apps in hypertension care: potential to increase patient safety, patient autonomy and support in medical care. Identified barriers revolved around data management, communication contexts, daily routines, and system handling. HCPs highlighted the need for structural and procedural changes in daily routines to address these challenges effectively.
Conclusions:
To effectively utilize digital tools like mHealth apps, several obstacles must be surmounted. This includes meeting information needs, addressing interoperability issues, clarifying reimbursement uncertainties, and establishing specific clinical benefits. Active user engagement during design and implementation phases is paramount. Furthermore, enhancing knowledge accessibility through easily understandable information about mHealth apps is vital for eliminating barriers. Clinical Trial: https://drks.de/search/de/trial/DRKS00029761, identifier DRKS00029761.
Citation
Request queued. Please wait while the file is being generated. It may take some time.
Copyright
© The authors. All rights reserved. This is a privileged document currently under peer-review/community review (or an accepted/rejected manuscript). Authors have provided JMIR Publications with an exclusive license to publish this preprint on it's website for review and ahead-of-print citation purposes only. While the final peer-reviewed paper may be licensed under a cc-by license on publication, at this stage authors and publisher expressively prohibit redistribution of this draft paper other than for review purposes.