Studies show that text messages may not be as effective as reminders to fill medications

A study published in JAMA reveals text message reminders for patients who are late to refill their medications did not help improve their refills over a year.

The study enrolled more than 9,000 patients in a pragmatic clinical trial and included representation from a diverse population across subgroups, including women, Hispanics, and Spanish-speaking patients, all groups that would normally be represented by a limited method in clinical trials.

“There are many studies that focus on using technology to improve health care behaviors. However, it is unclear and poorly studied whether text message reminders are effective for a sustained period of time. , as they have become a common practice in health care settings,” said first author Michael Ho, MD, associate professor of medicine and cardiology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. .

“That’s one of the reasons we wanted to focus on text message reminders for medication refills in this study, which we hoped would also reduce serious health problems.”

Researchers compared different types of messaging strategies to standard care to improve medication adherence for chronic heart disease. Messages were provided when patients had a refill gap of more than seven days and were sent in English or Spanish based on patient preference.

“An important aspect of our research was to include representation from different cultures, since different cultures and experiences can shape the choice of communication methods and result in different technological methods,” said senior author Sheana Bull, Ph.D., MPH, professor. Emerita and consultant of the mHealth Impact laboratory at the Colorado School of Public Health at the CU Anschutz Medical Campus.

The research found adherence to fillings in the first three months improved by five percent and the median length of first voids decreased by about five days, meaning patients had more days five of their medicine supplies.

However, text message reminders were not effective in improving adherence to refills at 12 months, regardless of the type of message: standard messages, messages using persuasive communication techniques called behavioral techniques or behavioral patterns, as well as a chatbot. This was consistent across all genders and races, and there was no difference between different text messaging styles.

“Chronic health conditions are on the rise and managing these conditions often requires patients to take medications for a long time. It is important to know ways to help patients take their medications regularly to prevent these medical conditions. so that he doesn’t get worse,” adds Ho.

“Our study shows adherence to chronic heart medication was lower than 12 months, so we need to explore new ways to improve this, especially when more people are improve chronic health conditions.”

Researchers will next study if advanced digital technologies including machine learning and artificial intelligence can improve long-term behavior related to medication refills.

The research was conducted by a team at the CU Anschutz Medical Campus, including faculty from the CU School of Medicine, the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences and the Colorado School of Public Health.