Communications of the ACM
App Improves Medication Adherence For Heart Stent Patients
A tablet computer application helped heart patients with drug-eluting stents take their medications correctly.
Credit: Andrew Boyd/UIC College of Applied Health Sciences
University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) researchers have developed My Interventional Drug-Eluting Stent Education App (MyIDEA), software that helps heart patients with drug-eluting stents correctly take their medications.
The tablet app uses a patient-centered narrative to help users understand the importance of taking their medication.
"Non-adherence is often due to miscommunication between medical staff and patients regarding the purpose of the medication or the specific duration of the medication," says UIC professor Andrew Boyd. "We aimed to address this gap by creating a patient-centered education application."
The app is tailored to patients by incorporating their own health information, including symptoms, treatments, and care team information.
"MyIDEA then prompts the patient to respond to how their symptoms have affected their lives, ensuring reflective observation," Boyd says.
The researchers conducted a pilot study of 24 patients, 13 of which worked with MyIDEA, to measure change in medication adherence; patients who used the app had a 10% higher medication possession ratio than patients who did not use MyIDEA.
"Results from this study are promising and will enable new and effective education programs to increase patient knowledge about their health and treatment," Boyd says.
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