The effects of continuous care model using a smartphone application on adherence to treatment and self-efficacy among patients with multiple sclerosis

BACKGROUND: Adherence to disease-modifying therapy is important in patients with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) to increase the positive outcomes and improve the quality of life. This study aimed to determine the effects of Continuous Care Model (CCM) using a smartphone application on adherence to treatment and self-efficacy among MS patients. METHODS: This quasi-experimental study with pre/posttest design was conducted on 72 MS patients in Shiraz, Iran from June 2020 to August 2021. The samples were randomly assigned to intervention (n = 36) and control (n = 36) groups. In the intervention group, the CCM using a smartphone application was implemented during two months. However, no intervention was performed for the control group. The data were collected using the self-report Multiple Sclerosis Treatment Adherence Questionnaire (MS-TAQ) and MS Self-Efficacy Scale (MSSS) at baseline and two and four months after the intervention. RESULTS: The results showed an improvement in adherence to treatment and self-efficacy in the intervention group compared to the control group after implementing the virtual CCM and at the two-month follow-up (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Implementing the CCM using a smartphone application resulted in improvements in the MS patients’ adherence to treatment and self-efficacy. It can be concluded that providing care using an interactive multimedia application can improve the outcomes as well as patients’ satisfaction, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, this approach is recommended to be used for nurses, healthcare providers, and clinicians. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12911-022-01785-x.