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Electronic reminders to improve medication adherence—are they acceptable to the patient?

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Abstract

Objective Low levels of adherence to medication are commonly reported in chronic medical conditions. Empirical evidence suggests that patients are willing to accept pharmacist interventions to improve adherence. This study aimed to assess the levels of self-reported adherence to antidepressant medication in the community and to investigate the acceptability of text message reminders to self-reported unintentional non-adherers. Setting Community pharmacy in Wexford; Republic of Ireland. Method A structured questionnaire was administered to patients who were collecting antidepressant medication, which had been prescribed for at least 6 months. Results Of the 59 patients who completed the study, 54% reported that they were unintentionally non-adherent. This group tended to be younger in age (t = −2.50, P = 0.02). Fifty-nine percent of the unintentional non-adherers were willing to receive a prompt such as a text message from the pharmacy to remind them to take their medication. There was no association between gender or age and acceptability of text message reminders. Conclusion Unintentional non-adherence to antidepressant medication exceeded 50% in this population. Electronic reminders, in this case text messages, were acceptable to approximately 60% of patients who reported being unintentionally non-adherent. Reasons for refusal of electronic reminders should be investigated as this will affect the applicability of this intervention.

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Conflicts of interest statement

The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Pharmacy, University College Cork, Cavanagh Pharmacy Building, College Road, Cork, Republic of Ireland

    Laura Sahm, Aoife MacCurtain & John Hayden

  2. Roche’s Pharmacy, Gorey, County Wexford, Republic of Ireland

    Cicely Roche

  3. Department of Clinical Health Psychology, Mercy University Hospital, Grenville Place, Cork, Republic of Ireland

    Helen L. Richards

Authors
  1. Laura Sahm
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  2. Aoife MacCurtain
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  3. John Hayden
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  4. Cicely Roche
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  5. Helen L. Richards
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Laura Sahm.

Appendix 1: questionnaire used in the survey:

Appendix 1: questionnaire used in the survey:

Adherence to chronic medication in the community: (and readiness to accept pharmacist interventions)

  1. 1.

    Are you willing to take part in a survey? Y/N

  2. 2.

    Is this prescription for you? Y/N

  3. 3.

    Is this a repeat prescription? Y/N

(only if Y to last three do you proceed)

  1. 4.

    Age/DOB: __ __/__ __/__ __ Sex: M/F

  2. 5.

    Do you ever forget to take your medication? Y/N

  3. 6.

    Do you ever find it hard to get the medication out of the container? Y/N

  4. 7.

    Do you ever forget to renew your prescription coming to the end of the month? Y/N

  5. 8.

    Would you be prepared to receive a prompt from the pharmacy e.g. a text message to help you to remember to take your medication? Y/N

  6. 9.

    Do you feel you receive enough information about your medicine? Y/N

  7. 10.

    Is there ever a time where you might take your medicines in a way that is different from how the doctor prescribed? Y/N

  8. 11.

    If Y to 10 then, tick all that apply:

    1. (i)

      I don’t like the side effects ○

    2. (ii)

      I think that a smaller dose will do fine ○

    3. (iii)

      I’m trying to cut down on the number of tablets I take ○

    4. (iv)

      I don’t think they actually work that well ○

    5. (v)

      I felt better before I started taking them ○

    6. (vi)

      They are expensive and so I try to make them do as long as possible ○

    7. (vii)

      I know the doctor says I need them but I’m not that convinced ○

Other (please explain)…………………………………………………….

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Sahm, L., MacCurtain, A., Hayden, J. et al. Electronic reminders to improve medication adherence—are they acceptable to the patient?. Pharm World Sci 31, 627–629 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11096-009-9327-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11096-009-9327-7

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