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Review
. 2016 Apr 30;18(5):e25183.
doi: 10.5812/ircmj.25183. eCollection 2016 May.

The Effectiveness of Mobile Phone Text Messaging in Improving Medication Adherence for Patients with Chronic Diseases: A Systematic Review

Roghayeh Ershad Sarabi  1 , Farahnaz Sadoughi  1 , Roohangiz Jamshidi Orak  1 , Kambiz Bahaadinbeigy  2
Affiliations
Review

The Effectiveness of Mobile Phone Text Messaging in Improving Medication Adherence for Patients with Chronic Diseases: A Systematic Review

Roghayeh Ershad Sarabi et al. Iran Red Crescent Med J. .

Abstract

Context: Medication non-adherence is a commonly observed problem in the self-administration of treatment, regardless of the disease type. Text messaging reminders, as electronic reminders, provide an opportunity to improve medication adherence. In this study, we aimed to provide evidence addressing the question of whether text message reminders were effective in improving patients' adherence to medication.

Evidence acquisition: We carried out a systematic literature search, using the five electronic bibliographic databases: PubMed, Embase, PsycINFO, CINAHL, and the Cochrane central register of controlled trials. Studies were included on the basis of whether they examined the benefits and effects of short-message service (SMS) interventions on medication adherence.

Results: The results of this systematic review indicated that text messaging interventions have improved patients' medication adherence rate (85%, 29.34). Included in the review, those who had problems with adherence, or those whom text messaging was most helpful had HIV, asthma, diabetes, schizophrenia and heart disease (73.5%). The period of intervention varied from 1 week to 14 months. The most common study design was randomized controlled trials (RCTs) (66%) carried out in the developed countries.

Conclusions: This study demonstrated the potential of mobile phone text messaging for medication non-adherence problem solving.

Keywords: Cellular Phones; Chronic Disease; Medication Adherence; Review; Text Messaging.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest:The authors declare that there is no conflict of interests regarding the publishing of this paper.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.. Flow Chart of the Study Selection Process
Figure 2.
Figure 2.. Number and Rate (%).of Paper on Every Subject
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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