Smartphone Applications for Hypertension Management: a Potential Game-Changer That Needs More Control.

PURPOSE OF THE REVIEW: This review article will summarize available data on mobile applications for the management of hypertension, by highlighting their potential for clinical use, the current limitations and the yet pending issues to be addressed in future studies.

RECENT FINDINGS: The number of available applications related to arterial hypertension and their usage by smartphone owners is constantly increasing. However, most applications lack standardization and scientific validation, and security flaws could be an important, yet still underrated, issue. Small studies showed that treatment strategies based on telemonitoring of home blood pressure with mobile applications could improve blood pressure control, but there are no data on strong outcomes and the high heterogeneity of available studies severely limits the possibility of reaching a definitive conclusion on the impact of such strategies. Smartphone applications for arterial hypertension represent a great chance to improve management of this condition. Results from small studies are promising, but there is a strong need for large, long-term, well-designed clinical trials, before these potential solutions might be reliably applied in real-life patients' care.