REMINDERS FOR MEDICATION ADHERENCE IN TYPE 2 DIABETES MANAGEMENT APPS
- Geronimo Jimenez, Singapore
- Geronimo Jimenez, Singapore
- Elaine Lum, Singapore
- Zhilian Huang, Singapore
- Yin-Leng Theng, Singapore
- Bernhard O. Boehm, Singapore
- Josip Car, Singapore
Abstract
Background and Aims
Medication adherence is important for glycaemic control. However, less than half of the people with Type 2 diabetes take medications as prescribed. Medication non-adherence can be a major health issue carrying significant negative consequences for individuals, as well as for healthcare systems. 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.
Methods
We assessed 181 diabetes management apps for the presence of medication reminder features and compared their characteristics to the evidence provided in studies showing the effectiveness of SMS reminders. Inclusion criteria include: Android and iOS diabetes management apps updated at least once since January 2016, in English, targeted at users with Type 2 diabetes, with medication management functions.
Results
We found that only 55.8% (101/181) of these apps had a basic medication reminder function, although the ones that had them conformed to the characteristics of SMS reminders shown to be effective. The most common format for reminders were pop-up messages/banner (68.3%, 69/101), followed by vibration (48.5%, 49/101), and sound (42.6%, 43/101).
Conclusions
This is an important missed opportunity for diabetes management apps to contribute to improving medication adherence and, ultimately, to improve health outcomes. Further research is needed to establish whether medication reminders in apps are effective for increasing medication adherence (as seen with SMS reminders), and to elucidate the specific features that these reminders should have to improve medication adherence.