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Blood pressure self-measurement apps usually more accurate than diaries
Although there are more and more apps available on the market today that are supposed to be good for the health, few, according to experts, really make sense. In the case of hypertension, they may be beneficial if the measured data is automatically transmitted to the doctor.
Some digital health workers make sense
There are now more and more apps available on the market that are meant to serve health. Some measure heart rate and metabolism, others serve as a blood pressure monitor, pain diary, pills alarm clock or nutrition guide. The boom is viewed very critically by many people. Experts complain that there are only a few useful health apps. Only a small part have a true diagnostic and therapeutic claim. The huge selection does not make it easy for citizens and doctors to identify good deals between the many bad ones. Therefore, the federal government had recently warned of possible risks from medical apps. But some of the digital health workers make sense. Thus, the validity of regularly measured with apps blood pressure is much stronger than the one-time measurement at the doctor.
In the case of high blood pressure, health apps are only an advantage if they directly transmit data measured by the affected person to the doctor. Otherwise, according to experts, caution is required. (Image: Denys Prykhodov / fotolia.com) When the measured data is automatically forwarded to the doctor
More and more mobile apps are designed to help those affected to make their lives easier. In the case of high blood pressure, however, health apps are only of advantage if they independently forward the values measured by the patient to a doctor. Otherwise caution should be advised, it was said on Monday at a press conference of the German Hypertension League in Berlin on the occasion of the upcoming World Hypertension Day (17 May), which will be held under the motto "blood pressure in motion". According to a message from the APA news agency, Egbert Schulz of the Blutdruckinstitut Göttingen said: "This telemedical transmission of blood pressure values or other vital data into the doctor's office is far superior to patient self-documentation." In contrast to the blood pressure diary, in which the blood pressure is entered only 30 to 70 percent correctly , she gives the doctor almost one hundred percent realistic values.
Self-measurement over a longer period
Apps could have a positive impact, for example, reminding patients to take blood pressure or registering how much a person moves each day. But additional functions such as the automated blood pressure interpretation with traffic light systems or similar are very critical to see according to the experts. The apps would then become medical devices that would also need to be inspected and approved. Important is the self-measurement of blood pressure but in any case. "The self-measured values of the patients show the doctor how the blood pressure behaves over a longer period of time. Prerequisite for this are reliable readings, "writes the German High Pressure League on its website. However, there are some "requirements for digital health workers" to provide, as the experts report in a statement. For example, an app provider should explain before downloading whether measurement data or motion profiles will be resold.
120 instead of 140 as a new blood pressure target
As stated in the APA report, hypertension is considered to be several times higher than 140/90 mmHg. The significance of regularly measured blood pressure values, however, is higher. They are usually around the five mmHg systolic and diastolic less than the doctor, because then the "white coat effect" is eliminated. It has been controversial for years on which values hypertensives should be best adjusted by medication. According to some experts, 120 instead of 140 should be the new blood pressure target.
Significant reduction in the risk of cardiovascular disease
In the so-called SPRINT study, half of the 9,361 blood pressure patients in the US were systolic at very low levels below 120 mmHg. The subjects were high-risk patients with already diagnosed cardiovascular disease. In the intensive treatment group of the prematurely discontinued study, a 25% reduction in the risk of heart attack, stroke, chronic heart failure, or death from cardiovascular disease had been observed. In addition, there were 38 percent fewer cases of chronic heart failure, 43 percent fewer cardiovascular deaths and a 27 percent reduction in overall mortality. However, more side effects such as increased renal dysfunction and episodes of excessively low blood pressure were also observed. Patients should therefore be closely monitored during such intensive therapy. But for high-risk patients, such an approach should offer benefits. (Ad)