Effectiveness of Telemedicine Interventions on Improving Medication Adherence of Patients with Type 2 Diabetes: A Review.

Abstract

Type 2 diabetes has been identified as one of the most prevalent chronic diseases worldwide. Effective management of diabetes relies heavily on adherence to medications. However, nonadherence remains a critical issue in patients with chronic diseases. Numerous interventions have been implemented worldwide and Telemedicine has become prominent due to significant technological advancements. The aim of this review is to analyze the impact of telemedicine interventions on enhancing medication adherence in patients with type 2 diabetes. Original research papers published in PubMed and Google Scholar from 2014 to 2024 were searched using the keywords “Intervention”, “Medication adherence”, “Pharmacist”, “Telemedicine”, and “Type 2 diabetes”. Research related to multiple comorbidities, special populations, written in languages other than English was excluded. The search resulted from 14 original research papers including 5447 patients. 12 studies were randomized controlled trials. Direct telephone calls (n = 9), regular text messages (n = 5), WhatsApp messages (n = 1) and several smartphone applications (n = 3) were identified as the approaches used to implement telemedicine interventions. Medication adherence was assessed using different strategies such as Proportions of days covered, Pill counts and Medication Adherence Scales. The outcome measure of most of the studies was HbA1c. A significant improvement in HbA1c level was observed in patients who recieved the telemedicine intervention in seven studies. The results of six studies have demonstrated that telemedicine interventions improved medication adherence in the intervention group, compared to the control group with telephone calls being the most frequently used telemedicine approach. In conclusion, telemedicine is an effective strategy that can be used to improve medication adherence in patients with type 2 diabetes and the findings highlight the possibility of incorporating telemedicine in improving medication adherence.