BACKGROUND
Most studies focus on blood pressure in older adults; however, there is a growing pattern of hypertension among young adults. Hypertension is estimated to be 7.2% among those 18-24 years old and growing to 20.9% among those 25-32 years of age
OBJECTIVE
To understand the implications and impact of using mobile smart-phone delivery messages tailored to the participant’s self-measured blood pressure (BP) daily value.
METHODS
This is a single-arm intervention pilot study to evaluate the feasibility of a mHealth to Optimize BP Improvement (MOBILE) intervention. College students ages 18 to 39 years, who have systolic BP greater than 120 mm Hg and diastolic BP equal to or greater than 80 mm Hg. Daily BP was collected from each participant. The intervention included each participant was required to take his or her daily BP for 28 days and each day preset text messages were sent corresponding to their BP value related to encouraging healthy lifestyle modifications.
RESULTS
Nine participants completed the intervention. The participants’ mean age was 22.64 ± 4.54; 55.6% were overweight and 11.1% were obese. The average daily participation rate was 86.1%, and no significant changes in blood pressure over the 28 days. However, male participants with higher body mass index had significantly higher systolic BP and diastolic BP.
CONCLUSIONS
The mHealth-supported MOBILE intervention for blood pressure monitoring and subsequent text messaging was feasible to implement as our study indicated high rates of engagement among the college student sample.