Patient adherence to tuberculosis treatment may be improved by using mobile text messaging and electronic pillboxes, according to a study published in the journal PLOS Medicine.
The randomized controlled trial was conducted by the Chinese Centers for Disease Control & Prevention and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and included more than 4,000 patients who were broken up into four groups. Depending on the group, patients received either text message reminders, electronic medication monitor box reminders, both or neither.
The study found patients who received neither text nor pillbox reminders were nonadherent (missed their doses at least 20 percent of the patient-months studied) in nearly one third (29.9 percent) of the months. Patients who received neither reminder and those who received text message reminders only were nonadherent at roughly the same rate.
Meanwhile, patients who received reminders from the medication box were only nonadherent in 17 percent of the months, patients who received reminders via both the medication box and text message were nonadherent in 13.9 percent of months.
"Based on our results, the use of a medication monitor shows great promise," concluded the study authors. "The development of a low-cost and reliable medication monitor, as well as evidence that its use can improve clinical outcomes, could enable widespread use of medication monitors in national TB control programs."
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