HealthDay News — Enhanced self-measured blood pressure (SMBP) paired with a connected smartphone app is not superior to standard SMBP for reducing blood pressure, according to a study published in JAMA Internal Medicine.

Mark J. Pletcher, MD, MPH, from the University of California in San Francisco and colleagues examined whether enhanced SMBP paired with a connected smartphone app is superior to standard SMBP for blood pressure reduction or patient satisfaction in a randomized trial conducted among 23 health systems. Eligible participants were randomly assigned to enhanced SMBP using a device that paired with a connected smartphone app or a standard device (1,051 and 1,050 participants, respectively).

The researchers found that from baseline to 6 months, the mean change in systolic blood pressure was −10.8 vs−10.6 mm Hg for enhanced versus standard SMBP. The results for the secondary outcomes were mostly null, with the exception of documented attainment of blood pressure control to lower than 140/<90 mm Hg, which occurred in 32% and 29% of the enhanced and standard groups, respectively (odds ratio, 1.15). Most of the participants in both groups were very likely to recommend their SMBP device to a friend (70% enhanced and 69% standard).


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“Enhanced SMBP does not provide any additional reduction in BP, and patients would not recommend an enhanced SMBP device to their peers more than a standard device,” the authors write.

Two authors disclosed financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry.

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