Randle Kado
Pronouns: he/him
Research Mentor(s): Analay Perez
Research Mentor School/College/Department: Mixed Methods Program/Department of Family Medicine / Medicine
Program:
Authors: Randle Kado, Leah Huang, Analay Perez
Session: Session 1: 9:00 am – 9:50 am
Poster: 60
Abstract
African Americans pose a higher threat of premature death due to hypertension, commonly known as high blood pressure. As an increasingly promising and accessible avenue for dependable healthcare information, implementing the use of mobile devices among this demographic population provides capability for promoting hypertension self-management; specifically, mHealth’s MI-BP. The study aims to assess the feasibility of incorporating MI-BP into this community setting in order to improve blood pressure. The MI-BP application addresses hypertension through the use of a self-directed intervention that includes self-monitoring blood pressure, sodium intake, physical intake, and medication adherence. The course of the study includes a 1-year trial of randomized African American individuals in the Detroit area with hypertension. Mainly, the study focuses on MI-BP’s impact in improving hypertension in comparison to the participants in the usual care methods group. A central goal of this study is to reduce hypertension-related disparities through the incorporation of self-monitoring for hypertensive individuals that rely on emergency department disease management. The study, starting in January of 2018, randomized 162 individuals into one group that utilizes the MI-BP application, and another that proceeds with traditional methods. Overall, the app was reviewed as user-friendly and adequate in hypertension support. The hypertension of the participants of both the systolic and diastolic blood pressure groups displayed a decrease. Physical activity and medication adherence saw an increase, while sodium intake presented no significant change. In hindsight, the MI-BP application fell short in reaching every outcome throughout the study. Further intervention may be beneficial for our specific population, considering historical and current African American distrust in the healthcare system due to mistreatment. High dropout rates also occurred, possibly due to the burden of the self-directed app. Future steps may involve additional qualitative research, such as literature reviews, and economic analyses to enhance knowledge about preventing recruitment difficulties and high dropout rates.
