Digital health intervention as an adjunct to a workplace health program in hypertension

Background

Hypertension is a common and difficult-to-treat condition; digital health tools may serve as adjuncts to traditional pharmaceutical and lifestyle-based interventions. Using a retrospective observational study we sought to evaluate the effect of a desktop and mobile digital health intervention (DHI) as an adjunct to a workplace health program in those previously diagnosed with hypertension.

Methods

As part of a workplace health program, 3330 patients were identified as previously diagnosed with hypertension. A DHI was made available to participants providing motivational and educational materials assisting in the management of hypertension. We evaluated changes in blood pressure, weight, and body mass index (BMI) between users and nonusers based on login frequency to the DHI using multivariate regression through the five visits over the course of 1 year.

Results

One thousand six hundred twenty-two (49%) participants logged into the application at least once. DHI users had significant greater improvements in systolic blood pressure (SBP; −2.79 mm Hg), diastolic blood pressure (−2.12 mm Hg), and BMI (−0.23 kg/m²) at 1 year. Increased login frequency was significantly correlated with reductions in SBP, diastolic blood pressure, weight, and BMI (P ≤ .014).

Discussion

This large, observational study provides evidence that a DHI as an adjunct to a workplace health program is associated with greater improvement in blood pressure and BMI at 1 year. This study adds to the growing body of evidence that DHIs may be useful in augmenting the treatment of hypertension in addition to traditional management with pharmaceuticals and lifestyle changes.