An mHealth intervention to improve medication adherence among patients with coronary heart disease in China: Development of an intervention

OBJECTIVES: With this study, we aimed to develop a mobile technology (mHealth) intervention to improve medication adherence among patients with coronary heart disease (CHD). METHODS: The study was conducted in two phases with CHD patients from a Cardiology Department of a hospital located in China. Each phase was independent from the other. Phase 1 tested the integration of the two apps — “WeChat” and “BB Reminder” — as an mHealth intervention. All participants received the same educational materials via WeChat every two days. Participants in the experimental group received a reminder from BB Reminder for every dose of their medications. The duration of Phase 1 was 30 days for each participant. Phase 2 refined the intervention, in which educational materials were sent every five days rather than every two days, and medication-taking reminders were sent daily rather than every dose. RESULTS: In Phase 1, an mHealth intervention was developed by integrating two mobile apps. In Phase 2, medication adherence increased at 30-day follow-up in both groups compared to baseline. At the 30-day follow-up, the mean of the decrease in medication non-adherence score in the experimental group (M = −1.35, SD = 2.18, n = 36) was more than the decrease in control group (M = −0.69, SD = 1.58, n = 36), which means the medication adherence improved more in the experimental group. CONCLUSION: The feasibility of using mHealth to remind CHD patients to take their medications is high.