Help with taking medicines worked a little, and no single method stood out.

The review

1. 01

   Who took part

   18,922 people in 95 groups from 61 studies, with about half getting a method and half in the other groups. Where ages were given, 34 of 51 groups were adults aged 19 to 65.

2. 02

   What they did

   Each group was compared with people who got a placebo or another real treatment. 41 groups changed routines, such as dose timing, packaging or reminders, 22 taught people about their medicine, and 32 did both. Programmes lasted from two weeks to a year.

3. 03

   What happened

   Each kind of group helped people take their medicine a little more, on average. Mailed reminders with teaching had the biggest effect, from only 2 groups, and the three kinds did not clearly differ. Results varied between studies, except for routine-change groups, and better results seem to have been published more often.

What the review found

1. Helped

   Groups that changed routines, like dose timing or packaging, took medicines as prescribed a bit more often.

   Pooled analysis of 41 studies with 8,885 people · vs people given a placebo or another treatment · ⚠ signs that small negative studies went unpublished

2. Helped

   Groups taught about their medicine took it as prescribed a bit more often than others, though results varied.

   Pooled analysis of 22 studies with 6,392 people · vs people given a placebo or another treatment · ⚠ signs that small negative studies went unpublished

3. Helped

   Groups that changed routines and taught people took medicine as prescribed a bit more often than others.

   Pooled analysis of 32 studies with 3,645 people · vs people given a placebo or another treatment · ⚠ signs that small negative studies went unpublished

4. Helped

   In 2 groups, mailed reminders with teaching helped people take medicine as prescribed more than others did.

   • Rule: Get a remindertested

   Pooled analysis of 2 studies · vs people given a placebo or another treatment · ⚠ signs that small negative studies went unpublished

Source