Could a Smart Phone App Help Patients Remember their Aspirin?
Use of a Smartphone App to Explore Potential Underuse of Prophylactic Aspirin for Preeclampsia
Several studies have shown that taking low-dose aspirin decreases the odds for developing preeclampsia, so it is recommended to start taking low-dose aspirin by 16 weeks of pregnancy when you are at risk for preeclampsia. Researchers in this study asked if the women who qualify as ‘at risk’ for preeclampsia (and should therefore be recommended by their healthcare practitioner to take aspirin) were 1) aware they should be taking aspirin during their pregnancy and 2) if they actually were taking aspirin. 1,051 patients of UPMC in the Pittsburgh area were included in this study and used a smartphone app called MyHealthyPregnancy that offered education information, monitoring tools, and screenings for patients. Researchers used information the patient put into the app to answer their questions about aspirin awareness and compliance. Researchers discovered that less than half (46%) of patients who were highest risk for preeclampsia (and therefore should be recommended to take aspirin) reported to have been told to take aspirin by their healthcare practitioner. Interestingly, when comparing these data to the patients’ records, 73% of their medical records reported that low-dose aspirin was recommended to them. These results demonstrate two important points about pregnancy healthcare in this group of patients- first, more than half of patients who could greatly benefit from taking low-dose aspirin to prevent preeclampsia aren’t taking it, and second, there is miscommunication between the patient and the provider about this recommendation during pregnancy.
Take home message: This study demonstrates patients at risk for preeclampsia need more education about taking low dose aspirin, and that digital tools, like smartphone apps, might be useful to support and re-emphasize the preeclampsia-prevention opportunity of low-dose aspirin.
Link: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2785596
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Each quarter, our team of researchers reviews the most current studies related to hypertensive disorders of pregnancy and selects those studies they feel will be of greatest interest to our community to summarize.
Special thanks to our volunteer research team, who under the leadership of Dr. Elizabeth Sutton, make Research Roundup possible: Alisse Hauspurg, MD Felicia LeMoine, MD Jenny Sones, PhD, DVM, and Robin Trupp, PhD, RN.
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