User Profiles of a Smartphone Application to Support Drug Adherence — Experiences from the iNephro Project

Abstract

PurposeOne of the key problems in the drug therapy of patients with chronic conditions is drug adherence. In 2010 the initiative iNephro was launched (www.inephro.de). A software to support regular and correct drug intake was developed for a smartphone platform (iOS). The study investigated whether and how smartphone users deployed such an application.MethodsTogether with cooperating partners the mobile application “Medikamentenplan” (“Medication Plan”) was developed. Users are able to keep and alter a list of their regular medication. A memory function supports regular intake. The application can be downloaded free of charge from the App Store™ by Apple™. After individual consent of users from December 2010 to April 2012 2042338 actions were recorded and analysed from the downloaded applications. Demographic data were collected from 2279 users with a questionnaire.ResultsOverall the application was used by 11688 smartphone users. 29% (3406/11688) used it at least once a week for at least four weeks. 27% (3209/11688) used the application for at least 84 days. 68% (1554/2279) of users surveyed were male, the stated age of all users was between 6–87 years (mean 44). 74% of individuals (1697) declared to be suffering from cardiovascular disease, 13% (292) had a previous history of transplantation, 9% (205) were suffering from cancer, 7% (168) reported an impaired renal function and 7% (161) suffered from diabetes mellitus. 69% (1568) of users were on <6 different medications, 9% (201) on 6 – 10 and 1% (26) on more than 10.ConclusionA new smartphone application, which supports drug adherence, was used regularly by chronically ill users with a wide range of diseases over a longer period of time. The majority of users so far were middle-aged and male.

A Novel mHealth Approach for a Patient-Centered Medication and Health Management System in Taiwan: Pilot Study (Preprint)

“…This finding is consistent with previous studies [29][30][31][32] and demonstrates that younger adults are more likely to accept the mobile devices. Simultaneously, the fact also suggests that the "digital divide" also exists between the sexes and men are more interested in using mobile technology than women.…”

“…This may be because our App was initially launched to the public as a free download to participate in the pilot study, rather than to perform a rigorous clinical trial for the specific population. The finding is also consistent with previous studies showing that frequent use of the App declined substantially within the first two months [28,29]. The high attrition rate for this intervention may reflect users' interest in the novelty of the App but declined rapidly as the novelty disappeared.…”

“…However, although elderly patients (over 65 years old) with chronic diseases are typically considered to be the population who often needs an additional tool to solve the problem of low medication adherence and complicated regimens with polypharmacy, a low percentage of elderly patients actually used the mHealth system in this study. Although previous studies demonstrated differences between older adults and younger adults in their perceptions, preferences and adoption of mobile technology [29,34,35], an ''Ambient Assisted Living Project'' reported that the older group of patients had very high acceptance of 7-inch tablet computers used as a medication management App [29,36]. Adoption of appropriate assistive devices and developing well-designed mobile Apps to solve the problem of medication management among older adults is an important issue.…”

Adherence to Endocrine Therapy in Breast Cancer Adjuvant and Prevention Settings

“…Strategies to increase patient contacts, which incorporate emerging technologies such as email reminder programs and use of cell phone apps (81)(82)(83)(84) shown to improve adherence in other disease settings, seem promising to evaluate in breast cancer trials. Strategies to increase contacts with patients in practice settings include use of automated telephone refill reminders and implementing medication adherence tools in electronic medical records.…”

The Impact of Mobile Application Support on the Quality of Care of Kidney Patients

“…At times, patients need advice about the use of drugs, but they are unable to get proper information due to poor communication with the doctor. Becker, et al (2013) examined the impact of mobile applications on enhancing the efficiency of healthcare quality care services. The subjects include individuals receiving drug therapy services.…”