Effectiveness of mHealth intervention to support patients' self-care management of hypertension: A scoping review.

BACKGROUND: Despite the availability of effective drugs and treatments, control rates of hypertension are still poor, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. Despite the importance of mobile Health (mHealth) interventions in chronic disease management, such as hypertension, there exists a knowledge gap as to whether mHealth effectively supports patients' self-care management of hypertension. This scoping review aimed to assess the effectiveness of mHealth interventions in supporting self-care management of hypertension. METHODS: A scoping review was conducted using the Arksey and O'Malley frameworks. Ovid MEDLINE, PubMed, Scopus, Journal Storage, and Google Scholar databases were searched for studies conducted between 2014 and 2024. The search used specific keywords to develop search strings. Data were screened using Covidence-based inclusion and exclusion criteria, excluding non-English studies and grey literature. The focus was solely on patients diagnosed with hypertension. A total of 116 studies were extracted, of which only 17 met the inclusion criteria. Data analysis was conducted using a narrative synthesis. RESULTS: Seventeen studies were included in this review. Most mHealth applications demonstrated significant benefits for the self-management of hypertension, with the intervention group showing greater improvements. Barriers to adoption include technological challenges, language issues, privacy concerns, costs, and limited device access. Facilitators comprise user-friendly designs, effective communication between patients and healthcare providers, accessibility, personalized messaging, and gamification. The review noted a lack of long-term impact assessments and the predominance of studies from high-income countries. CONCLUSION: Leveraging the facilitators (improved blood pressure control, medication adherence, and enhanced patient-provider communication) and addressing the barriers (limited device access in low-resource settings and privacy concerns) of mHealth interventions can be very useful in guiding healthcare professionals in the successful management of hypertension.