Investigation into Blood Pressure variability in Japan and Bangladesh by ICT based healthcare systems

Blood Pressure readings are widely accepted as a measure to determine the risk of non-communicable diseases such as hypertension and stroke. Affordable healthcare devices and sensors allow individuals to monitor blood pressure at home or at a local service point on a daily basis. ICT based healthcare systems interpret the readings and give feedback to individuals or may trigger a telemedicine call to a remote doctor. This paper introduces case studies for ICT healthcare studies undertaken in Japan and Bangladesh. Blood Pressure data collected by the Omron WellnessLink (500,000 readings) and the Kyushu University/Grameen Portable Heath Clinic (21,252 readings) are examined for similarities and differences. The results show similarities in gender and temporal influences. Males have higher blood pressure and readings appear to be rhythmic according to day and month. The differences indicate that the mean Systolic Blood Pressure (SBP) for Japanese males is higher than Bangladesh males and SBP for Bangladesh females is higher than Japanese females. The impact of climate is stronger on Japanese SBP than Bangladesh SBP. The Bangladesh data shows progressive increase in SBP in each ten year age category until 80 years; this is also reflected by BMI categories. The study reveals that affordable devices connected to basic ICT based healthcare systems reveal underlying factors in the Blood Pressure variability.