A Comparison between The Effectiveness of Short Message Service and Reminder Cards Regarding Medication Adherence in Patients with Hypertension: A Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial

Hypertension is increasing rapidly in developing countries. Today, modern technologies
are suggested as the tools used to enhance medication adherence. This study aimed to compare the
effectiveness of short message service (SMS) to reminder cards with regard to medication adherence
in patients with hypertension.
Methods: The present study is a randomized controlled clinical trial. The subjects consisted of 123
patients with hypertension at the clinical-educational center of Sayyed-Al Shohada, Urmia, who met
the study criteria. Selected based on the convenience method, the samples were randomly divided into
three groups: the SMS group, the reminder-cards group, and the control group. The subjects in the
SMS group were sent 6 text messages a week for three months, and the subjects in the reminder-cards
group were trained in how and in what order to use their cards. Hill-Bone medication adherence scale
was completed by all the participants before and three months after the intervention. Data analysis was
performed in SPSS software, using one-way ANOVA.
Hill-Bone medication adherence scale was completed by all the participants before and three months
after the intervention. Data analysis was performed in SPSS software, using one-way ANOVA.
Results: The results of ANOVA test demonstrated that the mean scores of medication adherence
were statistically different among the three groups of control (46.63±2.99), SMS (57.70±2.75) and the
reminder cards (57.51±2.69) after the intervention (P<0.001). However, after the intervention the means
of the patients’ medication adherence scores were not statistically different between the two groups
trained via SMS and reminder cards (P>0.05).
Conclusion: The fndings of the present research demonstrated that training and distance-monitoring
via SMS and reminder cards promote medication adherence of patients. Therefore, healthcare teams
and nurses are recommended to apply such training methods