THE EFFECT OF SHORT MESSAGE SERVICE ON ADHERENCE TO TREATMENT ADVICE IN THE PATIENTS WITH HYPERTENSION

Hypertension is one of the most important risk factors for cardiovascular diseases.
Education about monitoring and controlling of blood pressure can reduce the cost of treatment, and the patient
frequent hospitalizations. The devastating effects of the disease on the body’s vital organs need special attention.
The present research aimed to study the effect of Short Message Service (SMS) on adherence to treatment advice
in the patients with hypertension referred to Seyyedal Shohada Medical and Educational Center, Urmia, Iran in
2014.
Materials & Methods: In this semi-experimental study, 82 patients with hypertension who referred to Seyyedal
Shohada Medical and Educational Center, Urmia, Iran, and had the inclusion criteria were selected using
convenience sampling method. Then, they were randomly assigned to two groups of training via SMS, and control.
Data collection tool included demographic questionnaire and Hill-Ben's treatment adherence questionnaire which
was filled out in two steps before and after the intervention. Data analysis was performed in SPSS 16 using
descriptive and inferential tests.
Result: The results of this study showed that the mean scores of adherence were not statistically different between
the intervention and control groups (p=0.112). But Mann-Whitney test indicated a significant difference between
the two groups in adherence after intervention (p=0.000).
Discussion: Findings obtained from the present research demonstrated that training and remote follow-up via SMS
lead to adherence promotion of patients to treatment advice. Therefore, healthcare teams and nurses of these
patients are recommended to apply such training methods