Potential Use of Personal Health Records in Managing Hypertension: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Hypertension is a major problem in both developed and developing countries. In 2015, worldwide cases of hypertension reached 1.13 billion people, and in 2025, it is expected to increase to 1.5 billion people. Every year, 9.4 million people die from hypertension and complications, but hypertension could be prevented by risk control. This literature study aims to assess the potential use of personal health records to manage hypertension. The method used in this research was the systematic literature review following the PRISMA protocol. Scientific articles were obtained from five electronic databases, namely PubMed, JSTOR, EBSCOhost, ProQuest, and Google Scholar, with publication dates between 2009 and 2019. Initially, we obtained 103 articles, but after screening there were only four articles that met the requirements for this study. The articles, which come from the USA, Canada and France, show the potential use of PHRs to manage hypertension because of their ability to keep a record of complete health data. There was a decrease of 5.25 diastolic BP points from 25.7% of active users. Based on this data, the tool can assess user level of hypertension risk. A further benefit of the PHR as a mobile application tool is the potential to increase awareness of and encouragement to engage in healthy behaviors so the risk of hypertension can be managed. The PHR is a tool to monitor physical exercise, diet, weight and the extent to which hypertension has been controlled based on blood pressure readings, examination results and related laboratory results.