The use of technology to improve medication adherence in heart failure patients: a systematic review of randomised controlled trials

BACKGROUND: Heart failure is an ever-growing contributor to morbidity and mortality in the ageing population. Medication adherence rates among the HF population vary widely in the literature, with a reported range of 10–98%. Technologies have been developed to improve adherence to therapies and other clinical outcomes. AIMS: This systematic review aims to investigate the effect of different technologies on medication adherence in patients with heart failure. It also aims to determine their impact on other clinical outcomes and examine the potential of these technologies in clinical practice. METHODS: This systematic review was conducted using the following databases: PubMed Central UK, Embase, MEDLINE, CINAHL Plus, PsycINFO and Cochrane Library until October 2022. Studies were included if they were randomised controlled trials that used technology to improve medication adherence as an outcome in heart failure patients. The Cochrane Collaboration's Risk of Bias tool was used to assess individual studies. This review was registered with PROSPERO (ID: CRD42022371865). RESULTS: A total of nine studies met the inclusion criteria. Two studies showed statistically significant improvement in medication adherence following their respective interventions. Eight studies had at least one statistically significant result in the other clinical outcomes it measured, including self-care, quality of life and hospitalisations. All studies that evaluated self-care management showed statistically significant improvement. Improvements in other outcomes, such as quality of life and hospitalisations, were inconsistent. CONCLUSION: It is observable that there is limited evidence for using technology to improve medication adherence in heart failure patients. Further studies with larger study populations and validated self-reporting methods for medication adherence are required. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s40545-023-00582-9.