A telehealth service model for the treatment of hypertension

Abstract

Summary We evaluated the effectiveness of a home telehealth service in hypertension control. Patients with hypertension were divided into two groups based on the frequency that they measured blood pressure (BP) at home: the regular group made >3 measurements per week and the irregular group made ≤ 20 measurements per month. Both groups were provided with home monitoring equipment (the Citizen Telemedical Care Service System, CTCS) which contained a computer and video communication device. A total of 160 participants were enrolled and 156 completed the 12-month study. There were 101 participants in the regular BP measurement group and 55 in the irregular group. There was a significant reduction in the average systolic BP from baseline after 6 months in the regular group ( P < 0.001) and after 1 month in the irregular group ( P < 0.001). There was no difference in average diastolic BP between the two groups. For both groups, the systolic BP control was good, especially for irregular group. The results suggest that patients who used CTCS tele-monitoring achieved better BP control than those who self-measured BP at home only.