Pulse 2016; 4: 78–84

 

The Role of Home Blood Pressure Telemonitoring for

Blood Pressure Control

Chan Joo Lee, Sungha Park

 

Abstract

Despite improvements in hypertension awareness and treatment, the blood pressure (BP)
control rate still remains at around 50%. One of the major determinants of low BP control results
from therapeutic inertia of the physician and suboptimal compliance of the patients.
Home BP self-measurement and monitoring improves patients’ awareness and helps the
management of hypertension. Recent technological advances are allowing for accurate measurement
and telemonitoring of home BP, with a number of randomized clinical trials demonstrating
the efficacy of telemonitoring for BP control. Home BP telemonitoring combined
with self-adjustment based on prespecified treatment algorithms has been shown to improve
BP control. Additionally, telemonitoring with active intervention by medical professionals has
been shown to improve drug compliance and increase the target BP achievement rate. Although
nothing can replace the tried and tested doctor-patient relationship in the office,
telemonitoring of home BP will be an important tool for treating hypertension in the future.



Key Words: Hypertension, Blood pressure control, Home blood pressure telemonitoring, Self-measurement of blood pressure, Remote physician care