Medication Adherence Reminder System for Virtual Home Assistants: Mixed Methods Evaluative Study (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cynthia F. Corbett ◽  
Elizabeth M. Combs ◽  
Peyton S. Chandarana ◽  
Isabel Stringfellow ◽  
Karen Worthy ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mixed Methods ◽  
Medication Adherence ◽  
Feasibility Study ◽  
Global Public Health ◽  
Constructive Feedback ◽  
The Past ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Mcnemar’S Test ◽  
Medication Reminder ◽  
Mcnemar's Test

BACKGROUND Medication non-adherence is a global public health challenge that results in sub-optimal health outcomes and increases healthcare costs. Forgetting to take medicines is one of the most common reasons for unintentional non-adherence. Research findings indicate that voice-activated virtual home assistants (VHAs), such as Amazon Echo and Google Home devices, may be useful in promoting medication adherence. OBJECTIVE Create a medication adherence app (skill) for Amazon Echo devices and measure the use, usability, and usefulness of that skill. METHODS A single-group mixed methods cohort feasibility study was conducted with females who took oral contraceptives (n=25). Participants were undergraduate students (mean age = 21.8, SD 6.2) at an urban university in the Southeast United States. Participants were given an Amazon Echo Dot with MedBuddy, a new medication reminder skill for Echo devices created by our team, attached to their study account, which they used for 60 days. Participants self-reported baseline and post-study medication adherence. MedBuddy use was objectively evaluated by tracking the participants’ interaction with MedBuddy through Amazon Alexa. The usability and usefulness of MedBuddy were evaluated through a post-study interview with participants responding to both quantitative and qualitative questions. RESULTS Participants’ interactions with MedBuddy, as tracked through Amazon Alexa, only occurred on half of the study days (mean of 50.97, SD 29.5). Compared to baseline, at study end participants reported missing their medication less in the past one and six months (χ 2 = .884 and .420 respectively, McNemar’s test p < .001 for both). However, there was no significant difference in participants’ reported adherence to consistently taking medication within the same two-hour time frame each day the past one or six months at the end of the study compared to baseline (χ 2 = 3.544 and 5.526 respectively, McNemar’s test p = .63 and p = .13 respectively). Overall feedback about usability was positive, and participants provided constructive feedback about features of the skill that could be improved. Participants’ evaluation of the usefulness of Medbuddy was overwhelmingly positive. Most participants (65.2%, n=15) said they would continue to use MedBuddy as a medication reminder in the future if provided the opportunity and the majority (91.3%, n=21) said they would recommend it to others. MedBuddy features that participants enjoyed were an external prompt separate from their phone, being able to hear the reminder prompt from a separate room, multiple reminders, and verbal responses as prompts. CONCLUSIONS The results of this feasibility study indicate the MedBuddy medication reminder skill may be useful in promoting medication adherence, but the skill could benefit from further usability enhancements.

scholarly journals High-volume workflow and performance comparisons for Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae testing using automated molecular platforms

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
André Frontzek ◽  
Gudrun Aretzweiler ◽  
Daniela Winkens ◽  
Dana Duncan ◽  
Elizabeth M. Marlowe
Keyword(s):  
Chlamydia Trachomatis ◽  
Neisseria Gonorrhoeae ◽  
High Volume ◽  
Turnaround Time ◽  
Screening Programs ◽  
Percent Agreement ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Mcnemar’S Test ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Mcnemar's Test

Abstract Background The global burden of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) is high and there have been reports of increasing chlamydial and gonorrheal infections. High-volume screening programs for Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) and Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NG) are an important component of STI control. This study evaluated the high-volume workflow and performance of the cobas® CT/NG assay for use on the automated Roche cobas® 6800 system, with the cobas p 480 instrument for pre-analytics, compared with the Aptima Combo 2 assay on the Hologic Panther system. Methods High-volume workflow and performance were evaluated using paired female urine specimens. Workflow analysis (n = 376) included hands-on time (HoT), number of manual interventions, and time to first and last results. For performance assessment, paired results from the cobas CT/NG and Aptima Combo 2 assays, for both CT and NG, were compared and two-sided 95% confidence intervals calculated to provide estimates of positive percent agreement (PPA), negative percent agreement (NPA), and overall percent agreement (OPA) between the tests. McNemar’s test was used for significance testing. Results Pre-analytical preparations and system start-up on the cobas 6800 system required 00:27:38 (hr:min:sec) HoT whilst the Panther system required 00:30:43. The cobas 6800 system required eight interactions and 00:43:59 HoT to process 376 samples. The Panther system required six interactions and 00:39:10 HoT. Time to first results was 02:53:00 on the cobas c6800 system for 96 samples and 03:28:29 on the Panther system for five samples. The cobas 6800 system delivered all 376 results 3 h faster than the Panther system (07:45:26 and 10:47:30, respectively). The performance correlation between both assays was high (PPA, NPA and OPA > 99% for both CT and NG). McNemar’s test revealed no statistically significant difference between the assays. Conclusion For high-volume automated CT/NG testing, both the cobas 6800 system and Panther system provided accurate results. Although less manual intervention steps were needed for the Panther system, improved turnaround time was obtained with the cobas 6800 system with less risk for contamination. The additional testing capacity on the cobas 6800 system would allow a growing service to deliver more results in a single shift.

scholarly journals Evaluating Reach, Acceptability, Utility, and Engagement with An App-Based Intervention to Improve Medication Adherence in Patients with Coronary Heart Disease in the MedApp-CHD Study: A Mixed-Methods Evaluation

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (6) ◽  
pp. 68 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karla Santo ◽  
Anna Singleton ◽  
Clara K Chow ◽  
Julie Redfern
Keyword(s):  
Coronary Heart Disease ◽  
Heart Disease ◽  
Mixed Methods ◽  
Medication Adherence ◽  
Analytical Data ◽  
Improve Medication Adherence ◽  
Mixed Methods Evaluation ◽  
Patient Screening ◽  
Clinical Measurements ◽  
Medication Reminder

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the reach, acceptability, utility, and engagement with the apps that were used in the MEDication reminder APPlications (apps) to improve medication adherence in Coronary Heart Disease (MedApp-CHD) study, a randomised clinical trial to improve medication adherence, using a mixed-methods approach. Methods: The MedApp-CHD study randomised 163 patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) to one of three groups: (i) usual care (n = 56), (ii) a basic medication reminder app (n = 54), or (iii) an advanced medication reminder app (n = 53). For this mixed-methods evaluation, the data sources included patient screening logs, feedback questionnaires collected at three-month follow-up, focus groups discussions, and analytical data from the app software. Results: Ninety-four percent (98/104) of participants who received a medication reminder app completed the three-month feedback questionnaire and 15 participated in the focus group discussions. The themes that were identified included that participants (i) found the medication reminders useful in reminding them to take the medications on the correct time every day, (ii) liked having the medication list as an easily-accessible record of medications’ names and dosages, (iii) reported being likely to continue to use the apps after the study completion, (iv) would be likely to recommend the apps to their family and friends, and (v) those who used the clinical measurements feature found it useful as a tool to track and graph the blood pressure and glucose levels over time (especially those with diabetes and/or hypertension). In addition, analytical data from the app software demonstrated that the participants used the medication-related features more than the clinical measurements feature. Furthermore, data from the patient screening logs showed that the main reason for exclusion, other than not meeting the CHD criteria, was not having a suitable smartphone, and those that were excluded for this reason were older and had a higher proportion of females than those enrolled in the study. Conclusion: This study provides important insights regarding the features that are most useful in apps that aim to improve medication adherence. This mixed-methods evaluation suggests that, currently, young male patients with CHD are more likely to use such apps, that the apps were well-accepted and useful in reminding the patients to take the medications, and that the patients were engaged in regularly using the apps.

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