Reminders for medication adherence in Type 2 diabetes management apps. (29th January 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Jimenez, Geronimo; Lum, Elaine; Huang, Zhilian; Theng, Yin Leng; Boehm, Bernard O.; Car, Josip
• Is Part Of: Journal of pharmacy practice and research. Volume 50:Number 1(2020)
• Page Start: 78
• Page End: 81
• Publication Date: 2020-01-29
• Subjects: smartphone -- self‐management -- mobile applications -- medication adherence -- diabetes; Hospital pharmacies -- Australia -- Periodicals; Pharmacy -- Periodicals; Pharmacology -- Periodicals; 615.1
• DOI: 10.1002/jppr.1595
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1445-937X

Abstract

Abstract: Medication adherence is important for glycaemic control. However, less than half of those with Type 2 diabetes take medications as prescribed. One of the known barriers to medication adherence is forgetfulness. Given the current ubiquity of smartphones, diabetes self‐management apps represent a valuable avenue for providing medication reminders to help users adhere to their medication treatments and improve health outcomes. We assessed 181 diabetes management apps for the presence of medication reminder features and compared their characteristics with the evidence provided in studies showing the effectiveness of SMS reminders. We found that only 55.8% of the apps had a basic medication reminder function, although those that had them conformed to the characteristics of SMS reminders shown to be effective. This is an important missed opportunity for diabetes management apps to contribute not only to improving medication adherence, but also in having a positive effect on the health outcomes of this population.