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Efficacy of a mobile hypertension prevention delivery platform with human coaching

Abstract

This pilot study evaluated the efficacy of a Hypertension Prevention Program (HPP) administered through a mobile application platform with human coaching (app) on reduction in blood pressure and weight in 50 adults with prehypertension or hypertension. Participants were recruited into a 24-week mobile application intervention to administer the HPP between January 2016 and July 2016. Dietary elements of the programme were based on the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension. The programme included in-app human coaching with bi-weekly phone calls, meal logging, blood pressure tracking and educational material. Main outcome variables included change in systolic and diastolic blood pressure, hypertension category, and weight loss. Data were analysed between October 2016 and December 2016. The HPP yielded overall improvements in weight (−3.04±4.04 kg, P=<0.001), diastolic blood pressure (−5.06±11.89 mm Hg, P=0.004), and hypertension category (−0.48±0.74 mm Hg, P=<0.001). Sustained engagement of 80% resulted in significant reductions in systolic blood pressure (−7.75±12.56, P=<0.001) and weight (−3.73±4.01 kg, P<0.001) for programme completers, contributing to hypertension category change (−0.58±0.64 mm Hg, P<0.001). Mobile delivery of a lifestyle intervention for hypertension prevention showed short-term potential to reduce risk of hypertension, supporting the need for longer studies to investigate the use of mHealth lifestyle modification to reduce the risk of hypertension, a public health priority.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to express our gratitude to all the participants in this study. This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors. We also thank Kelsey Wuensch for her editorial assistance.

Author contributions

TT-R drafted the manuscript, conducted the analysis and interpretation of the data for the work. YK contributed to interpretation of the data and critically revised the manuscript. MW contributed to data acquisition and critically revised the manuscript. JR contributed to the design of the study and critically revised the manuscript. KN contributed to conception of the study and data interpretation, and drafted the manuscript. JH contributed to study implementation, acquisition of the data and critically revised the manuscript, DM contributed to data interpretation and critically revised the manuscript. AF contributed to conception of the study data analysis, and critically revised the manuscript. AM contributed to conception and design of the study, data acquisition and analysis, and critically revised the manuscript. All gave final approval and agree to be accountable for all aspects of work ensuring integrity and accuracy.

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Correspondence to T Toro-Ramos.

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Competing interests

Noom, an independently owned and operated company, is the wellness programme that was offered to employees of Aetna customers in this study. There was no external source of funding for this study. The study was entirely supported by Aetna. Authors JR, KN and JH are employees of Aetna Inc. Authors TT-R, YK, MW, AF and AM are employees of Noom Inc.

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Toro-Ramos, T., Kim, Y., Wood, M. et al. Efficacy of a mobile hypertension prevention delivery platform with human coaching. J Hum Hypertens 31, 795–800 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/jhh.2017.69

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