Background & Project Overview:
The Adherence App Study is a randomised feasibility trial which will test a novel smartphone Application (App) called Healthera, designed to increase adherence to medication in patients prescribed blood pressure lowering medication in the community pharmacy setting.
The Healthera App has two novel and unique features that make it particularly suitable for use in the community pharmacy setting and which may help to increase adherence to medication. Information about the medication can be automatically transferred to the individual’s smartphone by scanning a barcode on the side of the box of medications, and the App also supports two-way communication which enables the participant to contact the pharmacist, to ask questions and receive replies regarding their medication.
We will undertake a parallel group randomised controlled trial with individual allocation to three study arms consisting of 2 intervention groups and 1 control group. Two versions of the App (with and without a 2-way pharmacist communication function) will be tested against Medisafe, a popular medication reminder App, in 102 participants for a period of three months.
Aims and objectives:
The objective of the study is to explore the feasibility and acceptability of the intervention and the potential feasibility of conducting a future cost effectiveness trial. Relevant outcomes to be measured include adherence to medication (MARS- Medication Adherence Report Scale) health status (EQ5D-5L) and systolic blood pressure (a valid and reliable clinical outcome measure). Health service costs and resource use will be measured to inform economic evaluation in the main trial and a process evaluation will be undertaken, focussing on the use of interventions and their effect on medication adherence and systolic blood pressure. Qualitative post-trial interviews with patients and pharmacists will provide further insights into the feasibility and acceptability of the interventions.
The study will test two versions of the Healthera App: the standard version (Healthera) that permits 2-way communication with the pharmacist and a basic version (Health Research App) which does not have this 2-way communication feature against a control App (Medisafe) in 102 patients who have been prescribed blood pressure lowering medication in the pharmacy setting.
Funding
This research is funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) through a Research for Patient Benefit (RfPB) grant.
For further details contact the study coordinator at jj285@medschl.cam.ac.uk
Publications and Dissemination
For more information, please contact the research co-ordinator, James Jamison on jj285@medschl.cam.ac.uk