Smartphone-supported at-home blood pressure monitoring for pregnant women in Ghana
Official title: Adapting and evaluating smartphone app-enhanced home blood pressure monitoring among pregnant women in Ghana
Funded at University of Michigan at Ann Arbor · NIH-11194342 · Data updated 2026-11-12
A culturally adapted smartphone app paired with a Bluetooth blood pressure cuff helps pregnant women in urban Ghana check their blood pressure at home and send alerts to clinicians when readings or symptoms look worrying.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R21 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Michigan at Ann Arbor NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Ann Arbor, United States) |
| Project start | September 15, 2024 |
| Project end | July 31, 2026 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $174,153 |
| NIH project number | 5R21TW012939-02 |
| Project ID | NIH-11194342 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are pregnant women in urban Ghana who can use or access an Android smartphone and are willing to take home blood pressure readings for a short monitoring period.
✕Less likely to help
People without access to a compatible smartphone, those living outside the participating urban sites in Ghana, or patients needing immediate emergency care are unlikely to benefit from participating.
What this research studies
You would help adapt an existing blood pressure app so it uses Ghanaian language, phrasing, and culturally relevant features by taking part in focus groups and interviews with other pregnant women and health workers. After adaptation, about 100 pregnant women will use a Bluetooth blood pressure cuff and the app at home for four weeks while the team watches how easy it is to use and whether the app correctly sends alerts for high blood pressure or preeclampsia symptoms. You will complete short surveys before and after using the app about how acceptable and appropriate it feels, and researchers will check stored readings and app logs to see if the system follows the intended alert rules. Findings will be used to refine the program and plan a larger follow-up phase if the app proves usable in this setting.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this approach could help detect high blood pressure earlier in pregnancy and prompt faster clinical follow-up to reduce complications like preeclampsia and related maternal harms.
How similar studies have gone: Home blood pressure monitoring in pregnancy has shown promise in other settings, but culturally adapted, app-based programs in low-resource countries remain relatively new and less tested.
Where this research is happening
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University of Michigan at Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Lawrence, Emma Rachel — University of Michigan at Ann Arbor
- Study coordinator: Lawrence, Emma Rachel
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.