Two Edinburgh universities have published a study which links a drop in the risk of cardiovascular diseases with allowing patients to measure and record their blood pressure at home.

Researchers from the University of Edinburgh and Edinburgh Napier University found that this could reduce the risks of a heart attack and stroke.

Patients who were able to self-monitor their blood pressure, with the data shared directly with doctors, had a “significantly lower risk of hospitalisation and death than those who received standard care.”

Use of the so-called digital telemonitoring system – which also sends reminders when it is time to take a reading – could help to improve the health of patients, save lives and ease pressure on the NHS, experts say.

High blood pressure, or hypertension, is a major global health problem, leading to an estimated 7.5 million deaths each year. Due to the lack of symptoms, it requires long-term monitoring as well as lifestyle changes and medicines to help manage the condition.

Previous studies have found that telemonitoring leads to improved blood pressure control, but there has been limited evidence of the long-term impact, including on serious outcomes such as stroke and heart failure.

Researchers studied almost 450,000 patients across Scotland with hypertension between 2019 and 2022. 9,500 patients used a telemonitoring service, Connect Me BP, while the remaining patients received standard care and were monitored by their local GP.

According to the study, those who took part in the telemonitoring service saw a reduction in their blood pressure within the first three months, which was maintained over a year. They also experienced a significant reduction in cardiovascular outcomes, hospitalisations and deaths, compared with patients receiving standard care.

The research team caution that although their analysis took account of differences between telemonitoring users and the wider group that might put them at lower risk of a cardiovascular event – such as younger age, requiring fewer medications for their blood pressure, and being less socio-economically deprived – there may have been unaccounted for differences which influenced the findings.

Further research is needed to investigate the impact of additional risk factors and to explore whether it would be beneficial to extend telemonitoring to a wider demographic and higher-risk group of people with hypertension, they suggest.

Experts claim that Scotland is now leading the world in deployment of the technology, with 130,000 people having used the Connect Me BP service for both diagnosis and control of blood pressure.

Janet Hanley, lead author and Associate Professor in the Cardiovascular Health Research Centre at Edinburgh Napier University, said: “Stroke, heart attack and heart failure are major causes of death and disability and anything which reduces the risk is worthwhile. 

“Blood pressure telemonitoring does this by helping people improve their blood pressure control and is easy and convenient to use.”

Professor Brian McKinstry, from the University of Edinburgh’s Usher Institute, said: “This study provides the strongest evidence to date that telemonitoring not only reduces blood pressure but strokes and heart attacks too. 

“It is important that we enable people from the most socio-economically deprived parts of the country who are most at risk of these conditions to benefit from it.”