EFFECTIVENESS OF MOBILE APP-ASSISTED INTERVENTIONS FOR IMPROVING SALT RELATED BEHAVIOR IN HYPERTENSIVE PATIENTS

Abstract

Objective: Current evidence supports that an increased intake of dietary salt was related to an increased prevalence of cardiovascular diseases. Interventions to reduce salt intake are essential to reduce hypertension and its disease burden. The use of mobile health care is becoming increasingly popular in the self-care of chronic diseases such as hypertension.

Design and method: This study is an open-label intervention study that aims to assess the effect of a mobile application specifically designed to aid in lowering the dietary salt. Participants will be asked to answer a questionnaire regarding their behaviors about salt-related dietary management and knowledge about the control of hypertension. Primary outcomes focus on feasibility measures of implementation and acceptability of the interventions. Secondary outcomes will include changes in blood pressure, dietary salt intake and hypertension-related behaviors. Sodium intake was estimated with the spot urine sodium content using the Kawasaki equation. User instructions for the mobile applications provides sodium content and calories for the dietary intake records made by the participants.

Results: Preliminary data from 50 subjects are as follows. Hypertension management behaviors of the subjects changed significantly in all categories. The total score of Confidence changed from 11.67 ± 2.94 points to 12.73 ± 2.25 (p < 0.001), Knowledge from 13.23 ± 2.08 to 14.02 ± 2.32 (p < 0.05), Action from 35.08 ± 7.03 to 39.12 ± 5.85 (p < 001), and Diet from 6.07 ± 2.13 to 7.87 ± 2.26 (p < 001). Significant changes were observed in the BP. The systolic BP decreased from 134.09 ± 11.34 mmHg to 127.27 ± 10.87 mmHg (p < 0.001), and diastolic BP decreased from 80.81 ± 8.19 mmHg to 77.97 ± 8.96(p < 0.05).

Conclusion: This trial is currently enrolling patients. To date, 226 patients have been enrolled, surpassing the pre-calculated sample size of 220. Results will be available in the winter of 2022. This trial tests the efficacy of dietary intervention through a novel mobile app. If effective, this mobile app based intervention could reduce the health burden of hypertension.