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Review
. 2014 Feb 18:7:65-72.
doi: 10.2147/CCID.S46051. eCollection 2014.

Improving adherence to acne treatment: the emerging role of application software

Chanhyun Park  1 , Gilwan Kim  1 , Isha Patel  2 , Jongwha Chang  3 , Xi Tan  2
Affiliations
Review

Improving adherence to acne treatment: the emerging role of application software

Chanhyun Park et al. Clin Cosmet Investig Dermatol. .

Abstract

Objective: To examine recent studies on the effect of mobile and electronic (ME)-health technology on adherence to acne treatment.

Background: With emerging use of ME-health technology, there is a growing interest in evaluating the effectiveness of the tools on medication adherence. Examples of ME-health technology-based tools include text message-based pill reminders and Web-based patient education.

Methods: MEDLINE, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science were searched for articles on adherence to acne treatment published through November 2013. A combination of search terms such as "acne" and "adherence" or "compliance" were used.

Results: Adherence to oral acne medication was higher than for topical acne medication. The frequency of office visits was also an influencing factor for acne treatment adherence. The telephone-based reminders on a daily basis did not improve acne patients' medication adherence, whereas the Web-based educational tools on a weekly basis had a positive effect on medication adherence in acne treatment.

Conclusion: In using ME-health interventions, factors such as medication dosage forms, frequency of intervention, and patients' preferences should be taken into consideration. Developing disease-specific text message reminders may be helpful to increase adherence rates. In addition, a combination of text message reminders with another type of intervention may improve medication adherence.

Keywords: acne vulgaris; application software; compliance; medication adherence; mobile and electronic health technology; telemedicine.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow diagram of search strategy. Abbreviation: ME, mobile and electronic.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Medication adherence rates using electronic Medication Event Monitoring System cap over the course of 12 weeks. Notes: Wang et al was not included because medication adherence rates were not reported. aMean adherence rates; bmedian adherence rates.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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