Digital Health Interventions Reduce Risk of Cardiovascular Disease

Digital health interventions (DHIs), such as telemedicine and text message reminders, reduce the relative risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) by 40%, according to a new study.

Researchers at the Mayo Clinic (Rochester, MN, USA) conducted a systematic search of PubMed, MEDLINE, EMBASE, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and other sources for articles that examined elements of DHI and CVD outcomes or risk factors. The authors extracted CVD outcomes and data on risk factors for CVD such as weight, body mass index (BMI), blood pressure (BP), and lipid levels from 51 full-text articles that met validity and inclusion criteria.

The results showed that DHI significantly reduced CVD outcomes. Web-based strategies, email, mobile phones, mobile applications, text messaging, and monitoring sensors reduced the absolute risk of CVD by about 7%, more than use of statins, aspirin, or anti-hypertension drugs. Concomitant reductions were seen in weight and BMI, but not blood pressure. They found that some DHIs are more effective than others, with internet-based modalities, text messages, and telemedicine lowering risk more than emails and data monitoring. The study was published in the April 2015 issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings.

“Because DHI use does not directly reduce CVD risk, these observed benefits likely reflect increased adherence to evidence-based preventive therapies such as statins, aspirin, or β-blockers,” concluded lead author R. Jay Widmer, MD, PhD, and colleagues of the division of cardiovascular diseases. “DHIs tend to trigger behavioral changes, while drugs treat the condition directly. A combination of the two could be optimal.”

“With nearly 50,000 health care–related apps now available for download and numerous internet-based digital health intervention solutions available, the benefit of digital health interventions on cardiovascular disease prevention and outcomes, both primary and secondary, merits reexamination,” suggested the authors.

Related Links:
Mayo Clinic