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Reminders make people adhere better to a self-help sleep intervention
Corine Horsch1, Sandor Spruit2, Jaap Lancee3
1Delft University of Technolgoy, Mekelweg 4, 2628 CD, Delft, The Netherlands.
Health and Technology
|December 5, 2017
Summary
Reminders significantly improve adherence to mobile cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia (CBT-I). Both event-based and time-based reminders were equally effective, suggesting design principles applicable to other digital health interventions.
Area of Science:
- Digital Health Interventions
- Behavioral Science
- Sleep Medicine
Background:
- Computerized health interventions show promise, but treatment adherence remains a significant challenge.
- Reminders are a simple yet potentially effective technique to enhance user engagement in digital health programs.
- Mobile-delivered cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) requires consistent user participation for optimal outcomes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of different reminder types on adherence to mobile-delivered CBT-I.
- To compare the effectiveness of event-based versus time-based reminders in a digital health context.
- To explore the role of opportunity and self-empowerment in adherence to digital health interventions.
Main Methods:
- A within-subject design was employed with 45 participants engaging in three conditions: event-based reminders, time-based reminders, and no reminders.
- A mobile intervention prototype included a sleep diary and relaxation exercises to assess adherence.
- Participants received each of the three reminder conditions in a randomized order.
Main Results:
- Both event-based and time-based reminders significantly improved adherence compared to the no-reminder condition.
- No significant difference in adherence was observed between event-based and time-based reminder strategies.
- Opportunity and self-empowerment partially mediated adherence for sleep diary completion, but not for relaxation exercise engagement.
Conclusions:
- Reminders are a valuable tool for enhancing adherence in mobile CBT-I and potentially other digital health interventions.
- The choice between event-based and time-based reminders may be less critical than their implementation.
- Leveraging principles of opportunity and self-empowerment in reminder design could boost engagement in digital health tools.
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