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Improving treatment adherence for blood pressure lowering via mobile phone SMS-messages in South Africa: a qualitative evaluation of the SMS-text Adherence SuppoRt (StAR) trial.

ABSTRACT: Effective use of proven treatments for high blood pressure, a preventable health risk, is challenging for many patients. Prompts via mobile phone SMS-text messaging may improve adherence to clinic visits and treatment, though more research is needed on impact and patient perceptions of such support interventions, especially in low-resource settings.An individually-randomised controlled trial in a primary care clinic in Cape Town (2012-14), tested the effect of an adherence support intervention delivered via SMS-texts, on blood pressure control and adherence to medication, for hypertensive patients. (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02019823). We report on a qualitative evaluation that explored the trial participants' experiences and responses to the SMS-text messages, and identified barriers and facilitators to delivering adherence support via patients' own mobile phones. Two focus groups and fifteen individual interviews were conducted. We used comparative and thematic analysis approaches to identify themes and triangulated our analysis amongst three researchers.Most participants were comfortable with the technology of using SMS-text messages. Messages were experienced as acceptable, relevant and useful to a broad range of participants. The SMS-content, the respectful tone and the delivery (timing of reminders and frequency) and the relational aspect of trial participation (feeling cared for) were all highly valued. A subgroup who benefitted the most, were those who had been struggling with adherence due to high levels of personal stress. The intervention appeared to coincide with their readiness for change, and provided practical and emotional support for improving adherence behaviour. Change may have been facilitated through increased acknowledgement of their health status and attitudinal change towards greater self-responsibility. Complex interaction of psycho-social stressors and health service problems were reported as broader challenges to adherence behaviours.Adherence support for treatment of raised blood pressure, delivered via SMS-text message on the patient's own phone, was found to be acceptable, relevant and helpful, even for those who already had their own reminder systems in place. Our findings begin to identify for whom and what core elements of the SMS-text message intervention appear to work best in a low-resource operational setting, issues that future research should explore in greater depth.

SUBMITTER: Leon N

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4490665 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Improving treatment adherence for blood pressure lowering via mobile phone SMS-messages in South Africa: a qualitative evaluation of the SMS-text Adherence SuppoRt (StAR) trial.

Leon Natalie N Surender Rebecca R Bobrow Kirsty K Muller Jocelyn J Farmer Andrew A

BMC family practice 20150703

<h4>Background</h4>Effective use of proven treatments for high blood pressure, a preventable health risk, is challenging for many patients. Prompts via mobile phone SMS-text messaging may improve adherence to clinic visits and treatment, though more research is needed on impact and patient perceptions of such support interventions, especially in low-resource settings.<h4>Method</h4>An individually-randomised controlled trial in a primary care clinic in Cape Town (2012-14), tested the effect of a ...[more]

PMID: 26137844

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Project description:Interventions to support people with hypertension in attending clinics and taking their medication have potential to improve outcomes, but delivery on a wide scale and at low cost is challenging. Some trials evaluating clinical interventions using short message service (SMS) text-messaging systems have shown important outcomes, although evidence is limited. We have developed a novel SMS system integrated with clinical care for use by people with hypertension in a low-resource setting. We aim to test the efficacy of the system in improving blood pressure control and treatment adherence compared to usual care.The SMS Text-message Adherence suppoRt trial (StAR) is a pragmatic individually randomised three-arm parallel group trial in adults treated for hypertension at a single primary care centre in Cape Town, South Africa. The intervention is a structured programme of clinic appointment, medication pick-up reminders, medication adherence support and hypertension-related education delivered remotely using an automated system with either informational or interactive SMS text-messages. Usual care is supplemented by infrequent non-hypertension related SMS text-messages. Participants are 1:1:1 individually randomised, to usual care or to one of the two active interventions using minimisation to dynamically adjust for gender, age, baseline systolic blood pressure, years with hypertension, and previous clinic attendance. The primary outcome is the change in mean systolic blood pressure at 12-month follow-up from baseline measured with research staff blinded to trial allocation. Secondary outcomes include the proportion of patients with 80% or more of days medication available, proportion of participants achieving a systolic blood pressure less than 140 mmHg and a diastolic blood pressure less than 90 mmHg, hospital admissions, health status, retention in clinical care, satisfaction with treatment and care, and patient related quality of life. Anonymised demographic data are collected on non-participants.The StAR trial uses a novel, low cost system based on widely available mobile phone technology to deliver the SMS-based intervention, manage communication with patients, and measure clinically relevant outcomes. The results will inform implementation and wider use of mobile phone based interventions for health care delivery in a low-resource setting.NCT02019823.

Project description:BackgroundIncomplete adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) is one of the factors that contribute to HIV drug resistance, and it is a major problem for the public health system in controlling the HIV pandemic. There is emerging evidence that SMS can play an important role in health care delivery among patients with HIV on ART, especially in resource-limited settings.ObjectiveThis paper aims to assess the impact of two-way and one-way SMS text messaging on adherence to HIV treatment. We hypothesized that sending weekly text messages through the one-way and two-way SMS text messaging approach will improve adherence to ART among patients with HIV and improve associated clinical outcomes (quality of life).MethodsA randomized controlled trial is being carried out among participants with HIV who have been on ART for at least one month from an accredited treatment center, namely the Buea Regional Hospital and Kumba District Hospital of South West Region, Cameroon. Participants with HIV, both male and female, aged 21 years and older make up a sample size of 207. The interventions involved the use of mobile phone text messages. Before commencing the intervention, a focus group discussion was carried out among the participants to understand their perception about the use of SMS-based interventions to improve adherence. A total of 246 participants were randomized to receive either a one-way text message (SMS sent to a recipient without recipient sending a reply) or two-way text message (SMS sent to a recipient and recipient sends a reply) or the control (no SMS, only standard care). Data on adherence and quality of life were collected at baseline and after 6 months and will be analyzed using SPSS version 21, while qualitative data will be analyzed using Atlas.ti 7.5.ResultsData collection began in September 2019 with focus group discussions and baseline data collection. After 1 month of baseline data collection, the intervention began in October 2019, and postintervention data were collected after 6 months (March 2020). At the end of the study, we will be able to understand the perception of patients toward SMS text messaging-based interventions and also assess the impact of one-way and two-way SMS text messages on treatment adherence among patients with HIV and on associated clinical outcomes (quality of life).ConclusionsThe impact of SMS text messaging varies across different settings. The results from this study will determine the perception of patients toward an SMS text messaging-based intervention and its impact on adherence to ART.International registered report identifier (irrid)DERR1-10.2196/16127.

Project description:BACKGROUND:Mobile phone text messaging (SMS) has the potential to promote adherence to tuberculosis treatment. This systematic review aims to synthesize current evidence on the effectiveness of SMS interventions in improving patients' adherence to tuberculosis treatment. METHODS:We searched electronic databases (PubMed, EMBASE, Science Citation Index), reference lists of relevant articles, conference proceedings, and selected websites for eligible studies available by 15 February 2013; regardless of language or publication status. Two authors independently screened selected eligible studies, and assessed risk of bias in included studies; resolving discrepancies by discussion and consensus. RESULTS:We identified four studies that compared the outcomes of the SMS intervention group with controls. Only one of the four studies was a randomized controlled trial. This was conducted in Argentina and the SMS intervention did not significantly improve adherence to tuberculosis treatment compared to self-administration of tuberculosis treatment (risk ratio [RR] 1.49, 95% confidence intervals [CI] 0.90 to 2.42). One of the non-randomized studies, conducted in South Africa, which compared SMS reminders to directly observed therapy short course (DOTS) reported similar rates of tuberculosis cure (62.35% vs. 66.4%) and treatment success (72.94% vs. 69.4%). A second study from South Africa, utilized SMS reminders when patients delayed in opening their pill bottles and reported increased tuberculosis cure (RR 2.32, 95% CI 1.60 to 3.36) and smear conversion (RR 1.62, 95% CI 1.09 to 2.42) rates compared to DOTS. In the third non-randomized study, conducted in Kenya, use of SMS reminders increased rates of clinic attendance on scheduled days compared to standard care (RR 1.56, 95% CI 1.06 to 2.29). Using the GRADE approach, we rate the quality of the evidence as low, mainly because of the high risk of bias and heterogeneity of effects across studies. CONCLUSIONS:This systematic review indicates that there is a paucity of high-quality data on the effectiveness of SMS interventions for improving patients' adherence to tuberculosis treatment. The low quality of the current evidence implies that further studies (in particular randomized trials) on the subject are needed. In the interim, if the intervention is implemented outside research settings an impact evaluation is warranted.

Dataset Information

Improving treatment adherence for blood pressure lowering via mobile phone SMS-messages in South Africa: a qualitative evaluation of the SMS-text Adherence SuppoRt (StAR) trial.

Publications

Improving treatment adherence for blood pressure lowering via mobile phone SMS-messages in South Africa: a qualitative evaluation of the SMS-text Adherence SuppoRt (StAR) trial.

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