Use of mHealth for management of hypertension in low and middle-income countries: opportunities and challenges

Abstract

Despite being the leading cause of global mortality, the hypertension control rate is astonishingly low, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. There is evidence that the mHealth approach is a potential platform for delivering interventions for hypertension management. Our recent study from Nepal also provided strong evidence for reducing blood pressure, improving control rate, and medication adherence. The objective of this paper is to document the real-world experience of designing and implementing a mHealth project in Nepal and relates them with the evidence from other similar Low- and Middle-Income Country (LMIC) settings. We learned that mHealth provides a unique opportunity to bridge the gap between providers and patients, send health education and reminder messages, secure patients' privacy, and make data management easier. We also encountered technological and financial barriers, unclear mHealth policy and guidelines, and low literacy levels, including digital literacy. As many of them are addressable, integrating mHealth provides a promising approach to hypertension management.