Health is going digital – Can it help reduce cardiovascular disease risk and improve disease management?
The digital health market is predicted to grow by more than 300% by 2030.1 This expected growth can be attributed to advancements in technology and remote patient monitoring (RPM) systems, the prevalence of which are expected to increase further due to the growing incidence of diseases such as cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease (CVD).1 RPM systems include digital devices that can help individuals monitor their general health or in some cases monitor symptoms or risk factors of a specific disease, such as blood pressure cuffs for CVD patients, or glucometers for diabetes patients.
Digital health solutions are transforming healthcare, facilitating disease prevention and diagnosis whilst empowering patients to manage their condition alongside their healthcare professionals (HCPs) to achieve better health outcomes.2 In CVD they are helping individuals reduce their disease risk, improving disease management and even preventing major CVD events by detecting warning signs (e.g. arrhythmias) allowing early intervention.2 Increasingly digital interventions are recommended alongside traditional ones such as following a healthy diet and partaking in regular physical activity.2 Research conducted by the World Health Organization has demonstrated that 80% of heart attacks and strokes are preventable, highlighting the important role that digital health solutions can play in reducing risk.3
87% of doctors recommend the use of digital health solutions to manage CVD risk factors2
The shift towards a digital approach by HCPs in the field of CVD is clearly visible, but to understand more about the public’s opinion we conducted a survey of more than 6,000 people across 5 European countries (UK, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the Netherlands) in October 2021.4
Popularity of digital health solutions varied, with just 6.6% of respondents claiming to have used, or currently be using online support programmes.4 In contrast, 26.% of respondents claimed to have used, or currently be using wearable devices.4 It was clear that most respondents would be willing to use a smartphone, digital app, or wearable device to achieve a healthier lifestyle and/or heart health, with a further 30% stating that although they haven’t used a digital health device, they would consider using them in the future.4
Our survey demonstrated that age impacted individuals’ appetite for digital health solutions.4 Only 18.7% of those aged 55+ claimed to use or have used a smartphone or online app to help reduce their risk of CVD, compared to 31.8% of respondents aged 35-44.4 However, this increased to almost 1 in 3 if a system was recommended by an HCP, indicating that professional recommendation is a key motivator for older individuals.4
The incidence of CVD is growing in the older population making it more important than ever that individuals are able to identify CVD risk factors, and proactively reduce their risk of CVD.1,4,5 That’s why we at Daiichi Sankyo are scouting the digital landscape for solutions that, once implemented, will help educate patients about their risk factors and ways to manage these by offering behavioural nudging, lifestyle optimisation tips and risk reduction recommendations. This could help patients to achieve better and sustained adherence and compliance with their long-term chronic treatments. These digital solutions will also supplement more traditional health interventions and our survey demonstrates that HCPs should be encouraged to recommend the use of popular digital solutions as part of their advice to reduce CVD risk and prompt early diagnosis where possible.2
We can see that there is a real need to address the growing incidence of CVD across Europe and the research tells us that technology has the potential to help us make a significant impact towards this. In light of this, we are striving to bring together digital and healthcare expertise to co-create innovative solutions that help to empower patients and to achieve our goal to care for every heartbeat.
To read more about the key findings and takeaways from the European Survey of Cardiovascular Disease, view the full report here.
