Guided talks about change may help adults take medicines as prescribed

The review

1. 01

   Who took part

   The 19 trials had about 4,200 adults in all, and 16 of them were pooled. Typical age was about 43, about seven in ten were women, and the illnesses included diabetes, HIV and high blood pressure.

2. 02

   What they did

   Health workers, most of them trained in this style of talk, met patients face to face or by phone. How often and how long they met varied, and in most trials the other group had usual care.

3. 03

   What happened

   The gain was very small, from 16 trials after one trial that differed a lot from the rest was left out. With all 17 trials the gain was a little bigger. Face-to-face delivery and talk-only programmes seemed better, but the summary and results give different numbers.

What the review found

1. Helped

   Across 16 trials, guided talks about change helped people take medicines as prescribed a little more than usual care.

   • Action: Talk through your mixed feelings about changingtested
   • Rule: With a coach or therapistused

   Pooled analysis of 16 studies · vs people who got usual care or other help

Source