Castela Forte, J.; Folkertsma, P.; Gannamani, R.; Kumaraswamy, S.; van Dam, S.; Hoogsteen, J. Effect of a Digitally-Enabled, Preventive Health Program on Blood Pressure in an Adult, Dutch General Population Cohort: An Observational Pilot Study. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health2022, 19, 4171.
Castela Forte, J.; Folkertsma, P.; Gannamani, R.; Kumaraswamy, S.; van Dam, S.; Hoogsteen, J. Effect of a Digitally-Enabled, Preventive Health Program on Blood Pressure in an Adult, Dutch General Population Cohort: An Observational Pilot Study. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19, 4171.
Castela Forte, J.; Folkertsma, P.; Gannamani, R.; Kumaraswamy, S.; van Dam, S.; Hoogsteen, J. Effect of a Digitally-Enabled, Preventive Health Program on Blood Pressure in an Adult, Dutch General Population Cohort: An Observational Pilot Study. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health2022, 19, 4171.
Castela Forte, J.; Folkertsma, P.; Gannamani, R.; Kumaraswamy, S.; van Dam, S.; Hoogsteen, J. Effect of a Digitally-Enabled, Preventive Health Program on Blood Pressure in an Adult, Dutch General Population Cohort: An Observational Pilot Study. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19, 4171.
Abstract
Worldwide, it is estimated that at least 1 in 4 adults suffers from hypertension, and this number is expected to increase as populations grow and age. Blood pressure (BP) possesses substantial heritability, but is also heavily modulated by lifestyle factors. As such, digital, lifestyle-based in-terventions are a promising alternative to standard care for hypertension prevention and man-agement. In this study we assessed the prevalence of elevated and high BP in a Dutch general pop-ulation cohort undergoing a health screening, and observed the effects of a subsequent self-initiated, digitally-enabled lifestyle program on BP regulation. Baseline data were available for 348 participants, of which 56 had partaken in a BP-focused lifestyle program and got re-measured 10 months after the intervention. Participants with elevated SBP and DBP at baseline showed a mean decrease of 7.2 mmHg and 5.4 mmHg, respectively. Additionally, 70% and 72.5% of participants showed an improvement in systolic and diastolic BP at remeasurement. These improvements in BP are superior to those seen in other recent studies. The long-term sustainability and the efficacy of this and similar digital lifestyle interventions will need to be estab-lished in additional, larger studies.
Keywords
hypertension; blood pressure; lifestyle; digital health; ehealth; prevention; behavioral change
Subject
Medicine and Pharmacology, Cardiac and Cardiovascular Systems
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
