Patients who were able to self-monitor their blood pressure, with the data shared directly with doctors, had a significantly lower risk of hospitalisation and death than those who received standard care.
Use of the so-called digital telemonitoring system – which also sends reminders when it is time to take a reading – could help to improve the health of patients, save lives and ease pressure on the NHS, experts say.
Regular monitoring
High blood pressure, or hypertension, is a major global health problem, leading to an estimated 7.5 million deaths each year. Lifestyle changes and medicines designed to lower blood pressure can help to manage the condition. Hypertension rarely causes symptoms, so patients require long-term monitoring.
Previous studies have found that telemonitoring leads to improved blood pressure control, but there has been limited evidence of the long-term impact, including on serious outcomes such as stroke and heart failure.
Scientists from the University of Edinburgh and Edinburgh Napier University studied almost 450,000 patients across Scotland with hypertension between 2019 and 2022. 9,500 patients used a telemonitoring service, Connect Me BP, while the remaining patients received standard care and were monitored by their local GP.
Better health
Those who took part in the telemonitoring service saw a reduction in their blood pressure within the first three months, which was maintained over a year. They also experienced a significant reduction in cardiovascular outcomes, hospitalisations and deaths, compared with patients receiving standard care.
The research team caution that although their analysis took account of differences between telemonitoring users and the wider group that might put them at lower risk of a cardiovascular event – such as younger age, requiring fewer medications for their blood pressure, and being less socio-economically deprived – there may have been unaccounted for differences which influenced the findings.
Further research is needed to investigate the impact of additional risk factors and to explore whether it would be beneficial to extend telemonitoring to a wider demographic and higher-risk group of people with hypertension, they suggest.