Active medication reminders did not improve medication adherence compared to passive devices (79% vs 78%) in older adults with heart failure over 28 days.
RCT (n=60)
2 × 2 design
Do telemedicine medication reminder systems improve medication adherence in older adults with heart failure?
Active telemedicine medication reminders (electronic pillbox or smartphone app) did not improve short-term medication adherence in older heart failure patients compared to passive devices.
Absolute Event Rate: 79% vs 78%
We conducted a feasibility study of a telehealth intervention (an electronic pill box) and an m-health intervention (an app on a smartphone) for improving medication adherence in older adults with heart failure. A secondary aim was to compare patient acceptance of the devices. The participants were 60 adults with HF (65% male). Their average age was 69 years and 83% were Caucasian. Patients were randomized using a 2 × 2 design to one of four groups: pillbox silent, pillbox reminding, smartphone silent, smartphone reminding. We examined adherence to 4 medications over 28 days. The overall adherence rate was 78% (SD 35). People with the telehealth device adhered 80% of the time and people with the smartphone adhered 76% of the time. Those who received reminders adhered 79% of the time, and those with passive medication reminder devices adhered 78% of the time, i.e. reminding did not improve adherence. Patients preferred the m-health approach. Future interventions may need to address other contributors to poor adherence such as motivation.
Goldstein et al. (2014) conducted an RCT in heart failure (n=60). Active medication reminders (electronic pill box or smartphone app) vs. Passive (silent) medication reminder devices was evaluated on Adherence to 4 medications over 28 days. Active medication reminders did not improve medication adherence compared to passive devices (79% vs 78%) in older adults with heart failure over 28 days.