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Published on: April 19, 2019
Digital Health Technologies to Promote Lifestyle Change and Adherence
Numan Khan1, Francoise A Marvel1, Jane Wang1
1Johns Hopkins Ciccarone Center for the Prevention of Heart Disease, 600 N Wolfe St, Carnegie 591, Baltimore, MD, 21287, USA.
Insights
Digital health tools like apps and wearables show promise for improving cardiovascular disease management through lifestyle changes and medication adherence. However, more large-scale evidence is needed to support widespread adoption of these technologies.
Area of Science:
- Digital Health
- Cardiovascular Disease Management
- Health Technology
Background:
- Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a leading global cause of death, with many cases preventable through lifestyle changes and medication adherence.
- Current initiatives prioritize cost-effective digital health solutions for CVD self-management, lifestyle modification, and medication adherence.
- Digital health technologies offer transformative potential for healthcare delivery in CVD management.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review recent studies on health technologies (text messaging, apps, wearable devices) for promoting lifestyle change and medication adherence in cardiovascular disease.
- To understand the functionality, effectiveness, and application of available digital health technologies for CVD.
- To assess the current evidence base for digital health interventions in cardiovascular care.
Main Methods:
- Literature review of recent studies on digital health technologies for cardiovascular disease.
- Focused on interventions including text messaging, mobile applications, and wearable devices.
- Analysis of technology functionality, effectiveness, and application in promoting lifestyle change and medication adherence.
Main Results:
- Digital health technologies are poised to significantly impact future cardiovascular disease management and risk reduction.
- Text messaging, apps, and wearable devices are key digital health modalities for CVD self-management.
- Existing literature suggests a prominent role for digital health in both resource-rich and resource-limited settings.
Conclusions:
- Digital health technologies are likely to be integral to future cardiovascular disease care.
- Limited large-scale evidence currently supports the widespread adoption of existing digital health interventions for CVD.
- Further clinical research and policy changes are essential to realize the full potential of digital health in cardiovascular disease management.
Opinion Statement:
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide with an estimated 17.5 million deaths annually, or 31% of all global deaths, according to the World Health Organization. The majority of these deaths are preventable by addressing lifestyle modification (i.e., smoking cessation, diet, obesity, and physical inactivity) and promoting medication adherence. At present, initiatives to develop cost-effective modalities to support self-management, lifestyle modification, and medication adherence are a leading priority. Digital health has rapidly emerged as technology with the potential to address this gap in cardiovascular disease self-management and transform the way healthcare has been traditionally delivered. However, limited evidence exists about the type of technologies available and how they differ in functionality, effectiveness, and application. We aimed to review the most important and relevant recent studies addressing health technologies to promote lifestyle change and medication adherence including text messaging, applications ("apps"), and wearable devices. The current literature indicates that digital health technologies will likely play a prominent role in future cardiovascular disease management, risk reduction, and delivery of care in both resource-rich and resource-limited settings. However, there is limited large-scale evidence to support adoption of existing interventions. Further clinical research and healthcare policy change are needed to move the promise of new digital health technologies towards reality.
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