Health-worker visits and daily texts didn't help teens take their medicine more
Who it’s about: Children, Parents, People with a health condition
- No difference
Health-worker visits on goals and cues plus daily texts didn't help teens take their medicine more than usual care.
- Action: Set a specific goaltested
- Rule: Get a remindertested
- Rule: Every daytested
- Action: Take your medicationused
- Rule: With a coach or therapistused
Small randomised trial of 50 teens with sickle cell disease and their parents · vs teens who got their usual care · behaviour was recorded · ⚠ only a short summary available
The study
Who took part
50 teens aged 10 to 18 with sickle cell disease took part, each with a parent or main carer. Blood tests showed they weren't taking their medicine well. The study got fewer people than it planned because of COVID-19.
What they did
One group had 4 or 5 visits over 6 months from a community health worker. The visits gave information and looked at what got in the way. They also helped with social issues. They helped build a habit with goals and cues. The teens also got a daily text reminder, plus one more visit in months 7 to 12. The other group got their usual care.
What happened
At 6 months, the visit group took their medicine on more days than before they started, and a blood marker improved. But they did no better than the usual-care group, and at 12 months neither group had changed. This is only a short conference summary, so it gives no sizes of the results.
Source
Habit Efficacy Trial: A Multi-Site Randomized Controlled Trial of Community Health Worker Support to Increase Hydroxyurea Adherence of Youth with Sickle Cell Disease (2023)
DOI: 10.1182/blood-2023-190031 (opens in a new tab)
