In addition, Archdeacon said that the Instant Blood Pressure app has undergone 18 updates since the study finished, which improved the app's algorithm and accuracy. Blood pressure was tested twice by app and at the same time by the regular cuffs as well. The user will also put the right index finger over the smartphones built-in camera lens. For investigating the app, the team used the standards that are used to test any new normal blood pressure cuff to receive USA regulatory approval.
But close to 80 percent of people with clinically high blood pressure, defined as 140/90, showed normal blood pressure with the app, his team found.
Though the app, worth $4.99, is no longer available on Google Play and the iPhone App Store, several other apps with the same objective are still available.
"We think there is definitely a role for smartphone technology in health care, but because of the significant risk of harm to users who get inaccurate information, the results of our study speak to the need for scientific validation and regulation of these apps before they reach consumers", says Timothy B. Plante, M.D., a fellow in the Division of General Internal Medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. The app underwent internal testing by the manufacturer, but Plante says those findings were never independently validated.
The app was first released in June 2014 - and spent 156 days in the top 50 best-selling charts, with at least 950 purchases a day.
The app was withdrawn in July 2015 for unexplained reasons.
The scientists noted that it's unclear how the app arrives at a blood pressure number. "That it doesn't use a cuff is neat as folks don't generally like carrying around a bulky blood pressure monitor". The quick and easy app may sound convenient, but medical researchers are now warning that it's highly inaccurate.
Dr. Plante added that erroneous readings about blood pressure are an extremely concerning fact or because hypertension is considered as a silent killer since it follows an asymptomatic path, which results in severe problems, including heart disease, kidney disease and stroke. The agency says it will regulate apps that "transform a mobile platform into a regulated medical device". "Study", in response to the aforementioned study. "At Auralife, we welcome third party researchers taking an active interest in assessing our technologies".
The research highlights the promise and pitfalls of mobile health technology.
The Instant Blood Pressure app from AuraLife is supposed to very simply and conveniently estimate a person's blood pressure.
"We understand that when we're measuring blood pressure, the numbers do matter, and we can't be off by plus or minus 5 or plus or minus 7", said Yancy, chief of cardiology at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine.
The company added that the app is not a medical device and it is not meant to be used to diagno se an illness like hypertension.
The website further states that Instant Blood Pressure is "for recreational use only".
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Source: Study warns against 'inaccurate' blood pressure mobile app
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