Introduction:
Hypertension is a major public health concern and the leading cause of cardiovascular disease worldwide. Prevalence of adequate blood pressure control is low and it is mainly associated to poor antihypertensive drug adherence. We hypothesized that education through mobile phone text messaging (SMS) would improve antihypertensive drug adherence in hypertensive patients followed in a primary care setting.
Methods:
Recently diagnosed hypertensive patients receiving antihypertensive drug treatment for less than 6 months were randomised to receive SMS related to improve drug adherence and to follow a healthy life style or no messages. Exclusion criteria were history of stroke, heart failure, myocardial infarction and hemodialysis. Patients were recruited from 12 different primary care clinics in Santiago, Chile, where free antihypertensive drug therapy was provided. All patients signed an informed consent after which a survey was performed. Compliance was assessed using Morinsky- Green-Levine Questionnaire.Text messages were sent every 12± 2 days. After a 6-month follow-up, a new survey was applied. An Ordinary Least Squares regression model was used to analyse the net difference between the two groups.
Results:
A total of 314 subjects were recruited, mean age 60 ±10 years, 35% male, 67% with low or medium educational level (≤12 years). Mean drug pill number was 2.1 per day and the mean time of drug prescription was 4±1 months; 150 subjects were randomised to text messages. No statistical difference between the control and the intervention groups in regards to gender, age, educational level, blood pressure and baseline compliance was found. Eleven patients were lost of follow-up. Adherence in the control group decreased from to 59,7 % at baseline to 51,7% ( p<0,05) at 6 months. By contrast, in the intervention group, it increased from 50,9 % to 62,7 % ( p<0,05). The absolute difference in mean adherence rate between the two groups was 19,8 % (Standard error: 0.081, p: 0.015).
Conclusion:
This study shows that education through SMS in patients with recently prescribed antihypertensive drugs improved adherence to treatment. SMS could become a good and easy- to- use intervention tool to overcome low adherence to drug treatments in the community.
"Evaluation of the Effect of a Mobile Phone Application on Treatment Success and Drug Adherence in Hypertensive Patients"
