Do Kidney Patients Know an App From a Nap?

Although 60% of the study cohort had never used a smartphone before, monthly adherence rates were higher than 80%. Outcomes included a statistically significant reduction in blood pressure, which was attributed to patients’ ability to better monitor their health and reduce their anxiety. The smartphone data sets also helped to identify cases of masked hypertension and more than 100 medication errors, 60% of which required intervention. Subsequent visits with providers were found to be more useful as a result, since both patients and providers had better quality information.

An accompanying editorial cautioned, however, that despite these positive findings, we must be mindful that smartphone ownership is less common among lower income patients. Fifty percent of those making less than $30,000 per year own a smartphone, compared with 84% of patients with an annual income of $75,000 or more.² CKD patients are of varying socioeconomic status, with lower eGFR often corresponding to lower socioeconomic status.

So while medical apps have a future with CKD (and by implication, all) patients, they are not unlike much else in medicine: We must tailor our practice to meet the needs of our patient population. These findings are encouraging for use of smartphone technology, but it is not a “one size fits all” solution. —SM

Sherry Mathes, NP-C
Georgia Nephrology LLC, Lawrenceville, Georgia