CURRENT STATUS OF USE OF VALIDATED DEVICES FOR HOME BLOOD PRESSURE MONITORING AMONG PATIENTS WITH HYPERTENSION

Abstract

Objective: Hypertension is the most important modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. Nevertheless, the control rate (<140/90 mmHg) in hypertensive patients is lower than 50% in Korea. The implementation of Home Blood Pressure Monitoring (HBPM) improves the diagnosis and treatment of hypertension. Current clinical guidelines advocate the use of validated HBPM devices. However, there are few studies about the current use of validated devices for HBPM. We aimed to investigate the present status of use of validated HBPM devices in real-world hypertensive patients. Design and method: This study was conducted on Korean hypertensive patients using CareforMe®, a smartphone healthcare application which allows the patients to record their HBPM data. HBPM devices included upper-arm and wrist devices. According to the STRIDE BP, validated devices included 3 categories: Preferred devices (published within the last 10 years and used a recently established protocol of device validation), Validated devices (have passed established validation procedures that have been checked and approved by the STRIDE BP Scientific Advisory Board), and Equivalent devices (equivalent to a device that has fulfilled the criteria for validated devices). Results: From May 2021 through December 2023, a total of 2,539 patients inputted model numbers of their HBPM devices. 112 devices and 32 different manufacturers were identified. 96.9% (n=2,461) of patients used upper-arm devices and 3.1% (n=78) used wrist devices. Out of 112 devices, 12 Preferred upper-arm devices, 5 Validated upper-arm devices, 5 Equivalent devices and 2 Validated wrist devices were identified. Only 17.8% (n=453) our of 2,539 patients were using Preferred HBPM devices, 2.3% (n=58) used Validated upper-arm devices, and 25.7% (n=652) were using Equivalent devices. Among patients using wrist devices, 17.9% (n=14) used validated devices. Conclusions: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to analyze the current status of use of validated HBPM devices among hypertensive patients in Korea. 96.9% patients used upper-arm devices, and among them, only 47.3% patients were using validated devices. Our results proposed the urgent need of patient education on accurate HBPM and public accessibility on validated devices to better management of patients with hypertension.