Effects of and satisfaction with short message service reminders for patient medication adherence: A randomized controlled study

Hsiu Ling Huang, Yu Chuan Jack Li, Yueh Ching Chou, Yow Wen Hsieh, Frank Kuo, Wen Chen Tsai, Sinkuo Daniel Chai, Blossom Yen Ju Lin, Pei Tseng Kung, Chia Jung Chuang

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

42 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Background: Medication adherence is critical for patient treatment. This study involved evaluating how implementing Short Message Service (SMS) reminders affected patient medication adherence and related factors. Methods. We used a structured questionnaire to survey outpatients at three medical centers. Patients aged 20 years and older who were prescribed more than 7 days of a prescription medication were randomized into SMS intervention or control groups. The intervention group received daily messages reminding them of aspects regarding taking their medication; the control group received no messages. A phone follow-up was performed to assess outcomes after 8 days. Data were collected from 763 participants in the intervention group and 435 participants in the control group. Results: After participants in the intervention group received SMS reminders to take medication or those in the control group received no messages, incidences of delayed doses were decreased by 46.4 and 78.8% for those in the control and intervention groups, respectively. The rate of missed doses was decreased by 90.1% for participants in the intervention group and 61.1% for those in the control group. We applied logistic regression analysis and determined that participants in the intervention group had a 3.2-fold higher probability of having a decrease in delayed doses compared with participants in the control group. Participants in the intervention group also showed a 2.2-fold higher probability of having a decrease in missed doses compared with participants in the control group. Conclusions: Use of SMS significantly affected the rates of taking medicine on schedule. Therefore, daily SMS could be useful for reminding patients to take their medicine on schedule.

Original languageEnglish
Article number127
JournalBMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making
Volume13
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Nov 16 2013

Keywords

  • Medication reminders
  • Patient compliance
  • Personal medication platform
  • Short message service (SMS)

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Health Policy
  • Health Informatics

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