Acceptability and feasibility of a mobile health application for blood pressure monitoring in rural Uganda.

PositiveLinks acceptability blood pressure control feasibility hypertension mHealth medication adherence self-monitoring social support

Journal

JAMIA open
ISSN: 2574-2531
Titre abrégé: JAMIA Open
Pays: United States
ID NLM: 101730643

Informations de publication

Date de publication:
Jul 2021
Historique:
received: 02 06 2020
revised: 18 10 2020
accepted: 20 11 2020
entrez: 13 9 2021
pubmed: 14 9 2021
medline: 14 9 2021
Statut: epublish

Résumé

Mobile technologies to improve blood pressure control in resource-limited settings are needed. We adapted and evaluated the acceptability and feasibility of PositiveLinks, a mobile phone application for self-monitoring, social support, and engagement in care for people living with HIV, among patients with hypertension in rural Uganda. We enrolled adults on treatment for hypertension at Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital and Mbarara Municipal health center IV, southwestern Uganda. We provided and educated all participants on the use of PositiveLinks application and automated blood pressure monitors. We administered a baseline questionnaire and performed in-depth interviews 30 days later to explore acceptability, feasibility, medication adherence, social support, and blood pressure control. A total of 37 participants completed the interviews, mean age of 58 years (SD 10.8) and 28 (75.7%) were female. All participants embraced the PositiveLinks mobile app and were enthusiastic about self-monitoring of blood pressure, 35 (94.6%) experienced peer to peer support. Among the 35 participants non-adherent to medications at baseline, 31 had improved medication adherence. All except 1 of the 31(83.8%) who had uncontrolled blood pressure at baseline, had self-reported controlled blood pressure after 30 days of use of PositiveLinks. Patients with hypertension in rural Uganda embraced the PositiveLinks mobile application and had improved medication adherence, social support, and blood pressure control. Further assessment of cost-effectiveness of the application in blood pressure control in resource-limited settings will be pursued in future studies.

Sections du résumé

BACKGROUND BACKGROUND
Mobile technologies to improve blood pressure control in resource-limited settings are needed. We adapted and evaluated the acceptability and feasibility of PositiveLinks, a mobile phone application for self-monitoring, social support, and engagement in care for people living with HIV, among patients with hypertension in rural Uganda.
METHODS METHODS
We enrolled adults on treatment for hypertension at Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital and Mbarara Municipal health center IV, southwestern Uganda. We provided and educated all participants on the use of PositiveLinks application and automated blood pressure monitors. We administered a baseline questionnaire and performed in-depth interviews 30 days later to explore acceptability, feasibility, medication adherence, social support, and blood pressure control.
RESULTS RESULTS
A total of 37 participants completed the interviews, mean age of 58 years (SD 10.8) and 28 (75.7%) were female. All participants embraced the PositiveLinks mobile app and were enthusiastic about self-monitoring of blood pressure, 35 (94.6%) experienced peer to peer support. Among the 35 participants non-adherent to medications at baseline, 31 had improved medication adherence. All except 1 of the 31(83.8%) who had uncontrolled blood pressure at baseline, had self-reported controlled blood pressure after 30 days of use of PositiveLinks.
CONCLUSION CONCLUSIONS
Patients with hypertension in rural Uganda embraced the PositiveLinks mobile application and had improved medication adherence, social support, and blood pressure control. Further assessment of cost-effectiveness of the application in blood pressure control in resource-limited settings will be pursued in future studies.

Identifiants

pubmed: 34514350
doi: 10.1093/jamiaopen/ooaa068
pii: ooaa068
pmc: PMC8423417
doi:

Types de publication

Journal Article

Langues

eng

Pagination

ooaa068

Subventions

Organisme : FIC NIH HHS
ID : K43 TW010715
Pays : United States

Informations de copyright

© The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Medical Informatics Association.

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Auteurs

Beatrice Mugabirwe (B)

Faculty of Computing and Informatics, Mbarara University of Science and Technology, Mbarara, Uganda.

Tabor Flickinger (T)

University of Virginia School of Medicine, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA.

Lauren Cox (L)

University of Virginia School of Medicine, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA.

Pius Ariho (P)

Faculty of Computing and Informatics, Mbarara University of Science and Technology, Mbarara, Uganda.

Rebecca Dillingham (R)

University of Virginia School of Medicine, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA.

Samson Okello (S)

University of Virginia School of Medicine, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA.
Department of Internal Medicine, Mbarara University of Science and Technology, Mbarara, Uganda.
Lown Scholars Program, Department of Global Health and Population, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

Classifications MeSH