COIOS
Emergent technology Item refines preprint

Self-guided lipid app cut LDL-cholesterol by 3.9% more than usual care over six months

In a pragmatic online trial of 278 adults with LDL-cholesterol above their risk-adapted target, a fully self-guided lifestyle app added to usual care reduced LDL by 3.9% more than usual care alone at six months, with 41.7% versus 23.8% achieving a fall of at least 10%.

A pragmatic randomised trial recruited 278 adults whose LDL-cholesterol exceeded their risk-adapted target and allocated them to usual care with or without a self-guided digital lifestyle application. At six months the adjusted between-group difference in relative LDL change was -3.9% (p = 0.029), and 41.7% of app users achieved a fall of at least 10% against 23.8% of controls. Non-HDL-cholesterol, patient activation and quality-of-life scores also differed in favour of the app, with low attrition.

Why it is interesting: It puts a number on what an unsupervised lifestyle app adds to lipid management: statistically detectable, but small beside drug effects.

Source
medRxiv (preprint), 2026-09-16
DOI
10.64898/2026.09.15.26363103
Type
Preprint
Design
Pragmatic online 1:1 randomised controlled trial, n = 278 adults with LDL above risk-adapted target, six-month follow-up
Verdict
Refines prior evidence
Driver
New medicines
Driver
Cardiovascular disease
Driver
What changes behaviour at scale