Community Trial Finds mHealth Lifestyle Program Reduces Hypertension Risk in Adults

A mobile health lifestyle intervention significantly reduced hypertension risk and improved vascular and blood pressure measures in community-dwelling adults, according to findings from a cluster-randomized trial published in BMC Medicine. Compared to the control group, participants receiving the intervention exhibited marked reductions in hypertension risk at 6 months (odds ratio [OR] = 0.28, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.10 to 0.77) and at 24 months (OR = 0.20, 95% CI 0.07 to 0.60). At 24 months, the intervention group also demonstrated significant reductions in diastolic blood pressure (-2.68 mmHg, 95% CI -4.52 to -0.83) and mean arterial pressure (-2.68 mmHg, 95% CI -4.80 to -0.56). Additionally, participants showed reductions in brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) at 12 months (-64.20 cm/s, 95% CI -114.11 to -14.29) and in 10-year atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) risk scores at 3 months (-0.20, 95% CI -0.37 to -0.04) and 6 months (-0.24, 95% CI -0.40 to -0.07).

The study was a prespecified secondary analysis of the 3SLIFE trial, a two-arm, cluster-randomized controlled trial conducted from April 2023 to July 2025 across 20 Chinese communities and villages. Investigators randomly allocated the communities in a 1:1 ratio, enrolling 190 participants in the intervention group and 193 participants in the control group. The intervention consisted of a 6-month program combining lifestyle education, interactive courses, personalized feedback, and family and community support delivered via social media, with participant follow-ups continuing through 24 months. The primary outcome was evaluated using a mixed-effects model to assess between-group differences in hypertension prevalence change, defined as blood pressure of at least 140/90 mmHg, alongside hypertension-related outcomes and plasma metabolite levels.

Among non-medicated participants with baseline blood pressure of at least 130/80 mmHg, the intervention group achieved higher blood pressure control rates at 6, 12, and 24 months. Exploratory multi-omics profiling revealed that 14 gut microbial species and 40 fecal metabolites may modify intervention effects, yielding the highest predictive accuracy for intervention response at 24 months with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.85. Within the multi-omics network, Coprococcus comes and Bacteroides eggerthii were identified as potential species linking fecal metabolites to altered plasma metabolites. The authors concluded that the findings support the potential sustained effectiveness of mHealth lifestyle strategies for community hypertension management, noting that preliminary evidence on microbiota-metabolite profiling warrants confirmation in larger-sample trials.

Subject of Research: mHealth lifestyle intervention for community hypertension management

Article Title: mHealth-based lifestyle intervention for hypertension in community-dwelling adults: a cluster-randomized controlled trial with exploratory multi-omics analyses

Article References: Yu, B., Zuo, H., Yang, X., Huang, Z., Liao, K., Dou, Q., Jia, P., & Yang, S. (2026). mHealth-based lifestyle intervention for hypertension in community-dwelling adults: a cluster-randomized controlled trial with exploratory multi-omics analyses. BMC Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-026-05321-w

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1186/s12916-026-05321-w

Keywords: Hypertension, mHealth, Lifestyle Intervention, Gut Microbiota, Metabolomics, Blood Pressure, Cluster Randomized Trial, Cardiovascular Health, mHealth-based, lifestyle, intervention, community-dwelling