Adherence with blood pressure monitoring wearable device among the elderly with hypertension: The case of rural China

INTRODUCTION: Wearable blood pressure (BP) monitor devices are increasingly adopted owing to the promotion of hypertension management program. However, little is known about the adherence and its associated factors in older adults (OAs) with hypertension. METHODS: The aim of this study was to determine factors associated with adherence to wearable BP monitor. In total, 212 OAs with hypertension in a remote rural area in China were asked to wear a BP monitor over 1‐month period. The following information on associated factors for adherence was collected, including demographic characteristics, cardiovascular health measurements, technology fluency, the Compliance of Hypertensive Patients' Scale, and the Health‐related Quality of Life Survey. As a result, the mean age of the 212 hypertension participants was 71.32 years (SD = 6.81). RESULTS: During the 30‐day survey, 50.94% of the participants with daily recoded BP wristband data were assigned as “BP device users.” The binary logistic regression model revealed that lower lifestyle compliance, lower medication compliance and higher total hypertension compliance were significant predictors for adherence. However, there were no differences concerning cardiovascular health factors, technology fluency, and health‐related quality of life between device users and nonusers. CONCLUSION: Individuals reporting a higher level of total compliance in hypertension management were more likely to wear a BP monitor device among OAs with hypertension. In addition, further research is needed to determine how wearable mHealth technology can be used to develop better hypertension self‐management education programs for this population.