"Evaluation of the Effect of a Mobile Phone Application on Treatment Success and Drug Adherence in Hypertensive Patients"

Abstract

Evaluation of the Effect of a Mo bile Phone Application on Treatment Suc cess and Drug Adherence in Hypertensive Patients. One of the most important factors affecting the prognosis of hypertension is the patients’ adherence to drug therapy. In this study, it was aimed to evaluate the improvement in drug adherence in hypertensive patients after using a mobile phone application. Patients and Methods: In this single-centered study fifty patients with hypertension were recruited. All the patients used the Medisafe® mobile phone application for 8 weeks. The application is intended to increase drug adherence of patients and provide better blood pressure control. The differences in systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) levels from the baseline and the levels at the end of the study were compared. The drug adherence was evaluated using the 8-question Morisky Drug Adherence Scale (MMAS-8) at baseline and at the end of the study. Results: The mobile application utilization provided a significant decrease in both the mean SBP levels by 6.2 mmHg (p<0,001) and in the mean DBP levels by 2.4 mmHg (p=0.035) Additionally, the mobile application also positively and significantly increased the drug adherence of the patients (mean baseline score: 5.54 vs mean end of the study score:6.3 and p=0,001). In the subgroup analysis of the study demonstrated that in addition to an increase in patients drug adherence, the use of the mobile application provided a significant decrease in the mean SBP levels by 6.6 mmHg(p=0.016) in geriatric patients but the decrease in DBP did not significantly change (p>0.05). In geriatric patients, the mean difference between drug adherence scores baseline and after application was found to be significant (p=0.006). With the use of mobile application, patients with polypharmacy had decreased mean SBP and DBP levels, and an increased mean MMAS-8 score of 5.07 to 5.85 (p=0.009). The present pilot study demonstrated that mobile application use in patients with hypertension may increase the treatment success and the patients drug adherence. The beneficial effects of mobile applications in the treatment of hypertension and other common chronic diseases should be evaluated in further larger clinical trials.