Effectiveness of Remote Interventions to Improve Medication Adherence in Patients after Stroke: A Systematic...

Stroke affects more than 30 million people every year, but only two-thirds of patients comply with prescribed medication, leading to high stroke recurrence rates. Digital technologies can facilitate interventions to support treatment adherence.

This study evaluates the effectiveness of remote interventions and their mechanisms of action in supporting medication adherence after stroke.

PubMed, MEDLINE via Ovid, Cochrane CENTRAL, the Web of Science, SCOPUS, and PsycINFO were searched, and meta-analysis was performed using the Review Manager Tool. Intervention content analysis was conducted based on the COM-B model.

Ten eligible studies were included in the review and meta-analysis. The evidence suggested that patients who received remote interventions had significantly better medication adherence (SMD 0.49, 95% CI [0.04, 0.93], and p = 0.03) compared to those who received the usual care. The adherence ratio also indicated the interventions' effectiveness (odds ratio 1.30, 95% CI [0.55, 3.10], and p = 0.55). The systolic and diastolic blood pressure (MD -3.73 and 95% CI [-5.35, -2.10])/(MD -2.16 and 95% CI [-3.09, -1.22]) and cholesterol levels (MD -0.36 and 95% CI [-0.52, -0.20]) were significantly improved in the intervention group compared to the control. Further behavioural analysis demonstrated that enhancing the capability within the COM-B model had the largest impact in supporting improvements in adherence behaviour and relevant clinical outcomes. Patients' satisfaction and the interventions' usability were both high, suggesting the interventions' acceptability.

Telemedicine and mHealth interventions are effective in improving medication adherence and clinical indicators in stroke patients. Future studies could usefully investigate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of theory-based and remotely delivered interventions as an adjunct to stroke rehabilitation programmers.