{"title":"Effect of Therapy Reminder Application on Treatment Adherence in Adults with Beta-Thalassemia Major: A Randomized Clinical Trial.","authors":"Fatemeh Mehrabadi, Mahdieh Arian, Zahra Badiee","doi":"10.30476/ijms.2025.104207.3783","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Non-adherence to treatment in patients with beta-thalassemia major (BTM) presents a significant challenge in effective disease management. This study aimed to assess the effect of a therapy reminder application (app) on treatment adherence in adult patients with BTM in Mashhad in 2024.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A randomized clinical trial was conducted in 2024 at a thalassemia clinic affiliated with Mashhad University of Medical Sciences (Mashhad, Iran). Participants were randomly assigned to the intervention and control groups, using permuted block randomization, with concealed allocation. The intervention group used the ThalaMe therapy reminder app for 8 weeks (February-July 2024), while the control group received standard care. Medication adherence was measured using the Morisky Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS-8) and the Chronic Disease Treatment Adherence Questionnaire (CDTAQ) before and after the intervention. Statistical analysis was conducted using SPSS software, using paired <i>t</i> tests or Wilcoxon signed-rank tests for within-group comparisons and independent <i>t</i> tests or Mann-Whitney U tests for between-group comparisons. P<0.05 was considered statistically significant.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The study included 76 adult patients with BTM, equally distributed between the intervention and control groups (n=38 each). Baseline measurements showed no significant differences between groups in either MMAS-8 scores (P=0.75) or CDTAQ scores (P=0.11). The MMAS-8 was inversely scored, with lower scores indicating higher adherence. Following the 8-week intervention period, the group using the ThalaMe app demonstrated significantly better adherence outcomes (1.05±0.78) than the controls (2.92±1.4, P<0.001). The intervention group had significantly higher CDTAQ scores (185.5±8.07) than the control group (151.79±27.08, P<0.001).</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The therapy reminder app significantly enhanced medication adherence and treatment management in patients with BTM, while simultaneously enhancing patient and family engagement through counseling.<b>Trial Registration Number:</b> IRCT20240222061079N1.</p>","PeriodicalId":14510,"journal":{"name":"Iranian Journal of Medical Sciences","volume":"50 9","pages":"597-606"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5000,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12449585/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Iranian Journal of Medical Sciences","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.30476/ijms.2025.104207.3783","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"MEDICINE, GENERAL & INTERNAL","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background: Non-adherence to treatment in patients with beta-thalassemia major (BTM) presents a significant challenge in effective disease management. This study aimed to assess the effect of a therapy reminder application (app) on treatment adherence in adult patients with BTM in Mashhad in 2024.
Methods: A randomized clinical trial was conducted in 2024 at a thalassemia clinic affiliated with Mashhad University of Medical Sciences (Mashhad, Iran). Participants were randomly assigned to the intervention and control groups, using permuted block randomization, with concealed allocation. The intervention group used the ThalaMe therapy reminder app for 8 weeks (February-July 2024), while the control group received standard care. Medication adherence was measured using the Morisky Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS-8) and the Chronic Disease Treatment Adherence Questionnaire (CDTAQ) before and after the intervention. Statistical analysis was conducted using SPSS software, using paired t tests or Wilcoxon signed-rank tests for within-group comparisons and independent t tests or Mann-Whitney U tests for between-group comparisons. P<0.05 was considered statistically significant.
Results: The study included 76 adult patients with BTM, equally distributed between the intervention and control groups (n=38 each). Baseline measurements showed no significant differences between groups in either MMAS-8 scores (P=0.75) or CDTAQ scores (P=0.11). The MMAS-8 was inversely scored, with lower scores indicating higher adherence. Following the 8-week intervention period, the group using the ThalaMe app demonstrated significantly better adherence outcomes (1.05±0.78) than the controls (2.92±1.4, P<0.001). The intervention group had significantly higher CDTAQ scores (185.5±8.07) than the control group (151.79±27.08, P<0.001).
Conclusion: The therapy reminder app significantly enhanced medication adherence and treatment management in patients with BTM, while simultaneously enhancing patient and family engagement through counseling.Trial Registration Number: IRCT20240222061079N1.
期刊介绍：
The Iranian Journal of Medical Sciences (IJMS) is an international quarterly biomedical publication, which is sponsored by Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. The IJMS intends to provide a scientific medium of communication for researchers throughout the globe. The journal welcomes original clinical articles as well as clinically oriented basic science research experiences on prevalent diseases in the region and analysis of various regional problems.
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