Scientometrics on interventions used for adherence of hypertension and diabetes therapies

Abstract

Objective To identify interventions aimed to improve adherence to medical and non-medical antihypertensive and antidiabetic therapy. Methods Scientometric study conducted in February and March 2018, based on data collected on PubMed ® and SciELO databases, using the following search terms: “interventions to improve adherence to diabetes therapy”, “interventions to improve adherence to hypertension therapy” and “interventions to improve adherence to therapy for hypertension and diabetes”. Results A total of 95 articles were selected. Scientific production increased as of 2009, with a higher number of studies published between 2015 and 2017. Most interventions described in literature were aimed at diabetic patients (46.31%). Face-to-face interventions were more common (46.31%), followed by telephone-based (31.58%) and digital (26.31%) interventions. North America stood out as the continent with the highest number of publications (68.42%), followed by Europe (14.74%). Most studies (63.16%) were based on a single type of intervention. Conclusion Traditional intervention methods were more widely used to promote adherence to antihypertensive and antidiabetic therapy; digital technology emerged as a trend in interventions aimed to improve hypertension and diabetes-related health behaviors.

The use of an electronic medication organizer device with alarm to improve medication adherence of older adults with hypertension

“…(18) To design specific and effective interventions, it is essential to identify the specific individual barriers that affect the older adults' adherence to medications. (19,20) Pill intake forgetfulness was a main reason for inadequate adherence to antihypertensive therapy. (3,5) Before the intervention, forgetfulness was frequent among the older adults included in our study, but decreased significantly, with Supermed showing its value in improving adherence.…”

“…Hence, the health professionals should analyze the patient's daily routine to develop a suitable medication schedule, as well as to define the best strategies to improve medication adherence. (19,20) In this sense, Supermed was designed to organize the medicines into single-dose compartments, labelled with the day and time to take the medicine. The labels also contained a braille description of the information to enable the visually disabled to use this device.…”