Mobile phone text messaging for promoting adherence to anti-tuberculosis treatment: a systematic review

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Abstract

Background

Mobile phone text messaging (SMS) has the potential to promote adherence to tuberculosis treatment. This systematic review aims to synthesize current evidence on the effectiveness of SMS interventions in improving patients’ adherence to tuberculosis treatment.

Methods

We searched electronic databases (PubMed, EMBASE, Science Citation Index), reference lists of relevant articles, conference proceedings, and selected websites for eligible studies available by 15 February 2013; regardless of language or publication status. Two authors independently screened selected eligible studies, and assessed risk of bias in included studies; resolving discrepancies by discussion and consensus.

Results

We identified four studies that compared the outcomes of the SMS intervention group with controls. Only one of the four studies was a randomized controlled trial. This was conducted in Argentina and the SMS intervention did not significantly improve adherence to tuberculosis treatment compared to self-administration of tuberculosis treatment (risk ratio [RR] 1.49, 95% confidence intervals [CI] 0.90 to 2.42). One of the non-randomized studies, conducted in South Africa, which compared SMS reminders to directly observed therapy short course (DOTS) reported similar rates of tuberculosis cure (62.35% vs. 66.4%) and treatment success (72.94% vs. 69.4%). A second study from South Africa, utilized SMS reminders when patients delayed in opening their pill bottles and reported increased tuberculosis cure (RR 2.32, 95% CI 1.60 to 3.36) and smear conversion (RR 1.62, 95% CI 1.09 to 2.42) rates compared to DOTS. In the third non-randomized study, conducted in Kenya, use of SMS reminders increased rates of clinic attendance on scheduled days compared to standard care (RR 1.56, 95% CI 1.06 to 2.29). Using the GRADE approach, we rate the quality of the evidence as low, mainly because of the high risk of bias and heterogeneity of effects across studies.

Conclusions

This systematic review indicates that there is a paucity of high-quality data on the effectiveness of SMS interventions for improving patients’ adherence to tuberculosis treatment. The low quality of the current evidence implies that further studies (in particular randomized trials) on the subject are needed. In the interim, if the intervention is implemented outside research settings an impact evaluation is warranted.

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Most cited references 17

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Effect of mobile phone intervention for diabetes on glycaemic control: a meta-analysis.

X Liang, Q. Wang, X. YANG … (2011)

To assess the effect of mobile phone intervention on glycaemic control in diabetes self-management. We searched three electronic databases (PubMed, EMBASE and Cochrane Library) using the following terms: diabetes or diabetes mellitus and mobile phone or cellular phone, or text message. We also manually searched reference lists of relevant papers to identify additional studies. Clinical studies that used mobile phone intervention and reported changes in glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA(1c) ) values in patients with diabetes were reviewed. The study design, intervention methods, sample size and clinical outcomes were extracted from each trial. The results of the HbA(1c) change in the trials were pooled using meta-analysis methods. A total of 22 trials were selected for the review. Meta-analysis among 1657 participants showed that mobile phone interventions for diabetes self-management reduced HbA(1c) values by a mean of 0.5% [6 mmol/mol; 95% confidence interval, 0.3-0.7% (4-8 mmol/mol)] over a median of 6 months follow-up duration. In subgroup analysis, 11 studies among Type 2 diabetes patients reported significantly greater reduction in HbA(1c) than studies among Type 1 diabetes patients [0.8 (9 mmol/mol) vs. 0.3% (3 mmol/mol); P=0.02]. The effect of mobile phone intervention did not significantly differ by other participant characteristics or intervention strategies. Results pooled from the included trials provided strong evidence that mobile phone intervention led to statistically significant improvement in glycaemic control and self-management in diabetes care, especially for Type 2 diabetes patients. © 2011 The Authors. Diabetic Medicine © 2011 Diabetes UK.

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Effectiveness of interventions to improve patient compliance: a meta-analysis.

D Roter, J Hall, R Merisca … (1998)

This article summarizes the results of 153 studies published between 1977 and 1994 that evaluated the effectiveness of interventions to improve patient compliance with medical regimens. The compliance interventions were classified by theoretical focus into educational, behavioral, and affective categories within which specific intervention strategies were further distinguished. The compliance indicators broadly represent five classes of compliance-related assessments: (1) health outcomes (eg, blood pressure and hospitalization), (2) direct indicators (eg, urine and blood tracers and weight change), (3) indirect indicators (eg, pill count and refill records), (4) subjective report (eg, patients' or others' reports), and (5) utilization (appointment making and keeping and use of preventive services). An effect size (ES) r, defined as Fisher's Z transformation of the Pearson correlation coefficient, representing the association between each intervention (intervention versus control) and compliance measure was calculated. Both an unweighted and weighted r were calculated because of large sample size variation, and a combined probability across studies was calculated. The interventions produced significant effects for all the compliance indicators (combined Z values more than 5 and less than 32), with the magnitude of effects ranging from small to large. The largest effects (unweighted) were evident for refill records and pill counts and in blood/urine and weight change studies. Although smaller in magnitude, compliance effects were evident for improved health outcomes and utilization. Chronic disease patients, including those with diabetes and hypertension, as well as cancer patients and those with mental health problems especially benefited from interventions. No single strategy or programmatic focus showed any clear advantage compared with another. Comprehensive interventions combining cognitive, behavioral, and affective components were more effective than single-focus interventions.

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Can the ubiquitous power of mobile phones be used to improve health outcomes in developing countries?

Warren A. Kaplan (2006)

Background The ongoing policy debate about the value of communications technology in promoting development objectives is diverse. Some view computer/web/phone communications technology as insufficient to solve development problems while others view communications technology as assisting all sections of the population. This paper looks at evidence to support or refute the idea that fixed and mobile telephones is, or could be, an effective healthcare intervention in developing countries. Methods A Web-based and library database search was undertaken including the following databases: MEDLINE, CINAHL, (nursing & allied health), Evidence Based Medicine (EBM), POPLINE, BIOSIS, and Web of Science, AIDSearch (MEDLINE AIDS/HIV Subset, AIDSTRIALS & AIDSDRUGS) databases. Results Evidence can be found to both support and refute the proposition that fixed and mobile telephones is, or could be, an effective healthcare intervention in developing countries. It is difficult to generalize because of the different outcome measurements and the small number of controlled studies. There is almost no literature on using mobile telephones as a healthcare intervention for HIV, TB, malaria, and chronic conditions in developing countries. Clinical outcomes are rarely measured. Convincing evidence regarding the overall cost-effectiveness of mobile phone " telemedicine" is still limited and good-quality studies are rare. Evidence of the cost effectiveness of such interventions to improve adherence to medicines is also quite weak. Conclusion The developed world model of personal ownership of a phone may not be appropriate to the developing world in which shared mobile telephone use is important. Sharing may be a serious drawback to use of mobile telephones as a healthcare intervention in terms of stigma and privacy, but its magnitude is unknown. One advantage, however, of telephones with respect to adherence to medicine in chronic care models is its ability to create a multi-way interaction between patient and provider(s) and thus facilitate the dynamic nature of this relationship. Regulatory reforms required for proper operation of basic and value-added telecommunications services are a priority if mobile telecommunications are to be used for healthcare initiatives.

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Author and article information

Contributors

Mweete D Nglazi

Linda-Gail Bekker

Robin Wood

Gregory D Hussey

Charles S Wiysonge

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): BMC Infect Dis

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): BMC Infect. Dis

Title: BMC Infectious Diseases

Publisher: BioMed Central

ISSN (Electronic): 1471-2334

Publication date Collection: 2013

Publication date (Electronic): 2 December 2013

Volume: 13

Page: 566

Affiliations

[1 ]The Desmond Tutu HIV Centre, Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine and the Department of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Anzio Road, Observatory 7925, Cape Town, South Africa

[2 ]International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, 68 Boulevard Saint Michel, 75006 Paris, France

[3 ]Vaccines for Africa Initiative, Division of Medical Microbiology & Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, University of Cape Town, Anzio Road, Observatory 7925, Cape Town, South Africa

[4 ]Centre for Evidence-based Health Care, Department of Interdisciplinary Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Tygerberg Campus, Francie van Zijl Drive, Tygerberg 7505, Cape Town, South Africa

[5 ]Division of Community Health, Department of Interdisciplinary Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Tygerberg Campus, Francie van Zijl Drive, Tygerberg 7505, Cape Town, South Africa

Article

Publisher ID: 1471-2334-13-566

DOI: 10.1186/1471-2334-13-566

PMC ID: 4219402

PubMed ID: 24295439

SO-VID: f2ce7902-c8e1-4f04-97e3-65a355bdae19

License:

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver ( http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.

Mobile phone text messaging for promoting adherence to anti-tuberculosis treatment: a systematic review

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Abstract

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Point-Of-Care Testing for Tuberculosis

Most cited references 17

Effect of mobile phone intervention for diabetes on glycaemic control: a meta-analysis.

Effectiveness of interventions to improve patient compliance: a meta-analysis.

Can the ubiquitous power of mobile phones be used to improve health outcomes in developing countries?

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