A disposable blood pressure cuff. Photo: Quinn Dombrowski/Flickr

CTech – Hello Heart, an Israeli digital therapeutics company that focuses exclusively on heart disease, has announced that a new study has shown that its digital health application for blood pressure management can achieve and maintain lower blood pressure over time, even for those most at risk for heart disease. Over 84% of participants with stage II hypertension achieved a reduction in their systolic blood pressure, which was maintained over three years, according to a study published in JAMA Network Open, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Medical Association.

Hello Heart’s connected blood pressure cuff and smartphone app empower users to self-manage their heart health and detect serious issues before they occur. Founded in 2013, Hello Heart incorporates medication adherence reminders and clinically-based, personalized digital coaching to drive lifestyle change. This research is the largest multi-year study of the efficacy of a digital therapeutic in controlling hypertension.

Researchers tracked 28,189 adults with employer-sponsored health insurance who used the Hello Heart technology and program. They found that the more people engaged with the Hello Heart digital therapeutic, the more their blood pressure improved, especially amongst those with stage II, the most severe form of hypertension.

“This is the first peer-reviewed, published study reporting the long-term experience of a digital health application for blood pressure management, with a magnitude of association that is clinically meaningful,” said Alexis Beatty, MD, MAS, a cardiologist and associate professor at the University of California, San Francisco, and the lead author of the study. “On average, participants used Hello Heart for 25 weeks, a level of engagement I have not seen in other digital hypertension management programs. Sustained engagement and decreases in systolic blood pressure of more than 20 mmHg can reduce a person’s chances of heart attack, stroke, kidney disease, and death.”

The researchers found that for the majority of users, any level of engagement with the Hello Heart program was associated with a reduction in blood pressure. Further, Hello Heart demonstrated the ability to capture hypertensive crises in men and women and timely identify potential events before they become catastrophic. The results were statistically significant even after adjusting for demographic, socioeconomic conditions, and behavioral factors.

“There is a high amount of skepticism and cynicism around hypertension management solutions because for years, there has been no effective solution, and current solutions yield low participant engagement. We’re pleased that the study demonstrated such strong clinical results that are sustained over three years for Hello Heart users,” said Maayan Cohen, CEO of Hello Heart. “It can be very uncomfortable and even scary for companies to subject their findings to a peer review. We have been helping users with their cardiac health for several years and are proud to put our clinical results through a peer-review process that validates what we already know — Hello Heart has strong, sustained clinical impact, at scale.”