Digital Therapeutics in Hypertension: Evidence and Perspectives
Kazuomi Kario, Noriko Harada, Ayako Okura
Abstract
Digital therapeutics refers to the use of evidence-based therapeutic interventions driven by high-quality software programs to treat, manage, or prevent a medical condition. This approach is being increasingly investigated for the management of hypertension, a common condition that is the leading preventable cardiovascular disease risk factor worldwide. Digital interventions can help facilitate uptake of important guideline-recommended lifestyle modifications, reinforce home blood pressure monitoring, decrease therapeutic inertia, and improve medication adherence. However, current studies are only of moderate quality, and are highly heterogeneous in the interventions evaluated, comparator used, and results obtained. Therefore, additional studies are needed, focusing on the development of universally applicable and consistent digital therapeutic strategies designed with health care professional input and evaluation of these interventions in robust clinical trials with objective end points. Hopefully, the momentum for digital therapeutics triggered by the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic can be utilized to maximize advancements in this field and drive widespread implementation.