Development and Validation of MyHTCare: An mHealth Application for Remote Monitoring and Self-Management of Hypertension

Abstract

(1) Background: Hypertension is a prevalent chronic condition requiring sustained self-management to prevent complications; however, long-term adherence to monitoring, medication, and lifestyle modification remains suboptimal. Mobile health (mHealth) technologies, supported by cloud-based connectivity, offer scalable platforms for structured remote monitoring and patient engagement. This study aimed to design, develop, and validate MyHTCare, a user-centered mHealth application for comprehensive hypertension self-management and connected remote monitoring. (2) Methods: An Agile-based, three-iterative development framework was adopted, incorporating clinical recommendations and inputs from patients, caregivers, and physicians. The application was developed using Flutter and integrated with Cloud Fire store to enable secure cloud-based data storage and real-time synchronization. Core modules included blood pressure tracking, medication reminders, infographic-based lifestyle education, and automated clinical alerts. Content validation involved 10 experts (clinicians and IT professionals) and 30 end users (adults with hypertension or caregivers). Usability was assessed using a pre-tested structured questionnaire, and educational materials were evaluated using the Patient Education Materials Assessment Tool for Audiovisual Materials (PEMAT-A/V). (3) Results: End-user validation demonstrated high usability, with mean scores ranging from 4.4 to 5.0 on a 5-point scale. Educational materials achieved 100% actionability and 92–100% understandability. Expert evaluation showed high ratings across usability domains, with acceptability scores exceeding 70%. (4) Conclusions: MyHTCare demonstrated strong content validity and usability, supporting further clinical evaluation to determine its effectiveness in improving blood pressure control and self-management.