Getting older people with heart problems to monitor their condition has proven difficult, especially with wearables.

But the smartphone app Hello Heart shows overwhelming promise in its ability to lower blood pressure in older people, a new report has found.

The study showed that the majority of study participants, all of whom were elderly, were able to reduce both weight and blood pressure over a three-month and six-month period.

The latter finding is important because high blood pressure puts older adults at risk for nearly all heart diseases and emergencies, including heart failure, stroke, and related death.

Surprisingly, the results showed that older adults in the study were 45% more likely to engage with the app than Hello Heart’s younger members.

The report, which was produced internally by Hello Heart, said the findings “contradict assumptions that older adults have difficulty using smartphones or are resistant to using technology to manage their health.” the company said in a statement.

HelloHeart also plans to present a detailed analysis of the study results at the American College of Cardiology 2024 Conference in Atlanta, the company announced.

A recent study found that, with the exception of outliers in Alaska, Minnesota, and Oregon, cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death among older adults in the United States. 48% of assisted living facility residents have high blood pressure and 31% have heart disease.

Several new technologies have emerged over the past year to better monitor heart health so that caregivers and older adults can assess themselves.

One recently released smartphone app, CardioSignal, uses built-in technology to identify “micro-vibrations” and flag potential illnesses.

Another innovation, NuraLogix’s Anura MagicMirror, uses artificial intelligence to assess users’ reflexes and identify signs of high blood pressure or heart disease.