Text Messages to Help Control Chronic Conditions
Doctors at Cincinnati Children’s are experimenting with a novel approach to helping adolescents improve control over their chronic conditions: using text messaging to remind teens to take their meds.
Getting chronically ill kids to adhere to therapy can be difficult, particularly as children advance into adolescence. Some studies suggest only half of adolescents, on average, properly follow treatment steps, says Dennis Drotar, PhD, a researcher at Cincinnati Children's.
Asthma’s record is especially bad. One recent study by Cincinnati Children’s researchers found that 74 percent of adolescents with asthma dramatically overestimate their ability to control the condition, according to Maria Britto, MD, MPH, an adolescent medicine specialist at Cincinnati Children’s and the study’s primary author.
The idea for using text messaging came to Dr. Britto’s team during regular clinical visits with patients. Over time, they have noticed that patients frequently continue to text on their cell phones even during their appointment.
Her idea evolved into creating a study to see if a daily medication reminder via text message would improve her patients' asthma control. Gaining better control results in fewer full-blown attacks, improved school attendance and decreased doctor and emergency-room visits.
The concept of the experiment is simple. Participants can program a computer system (or the clinic can do it for them) to send them text reminders on their cell phones at the time that they desire. Pilot testing is currently underway, with a full study set for later this year.
Drs. Britto and Drotar hope that if the simple reminders work for asthma, they may also work for other chronic diseases such as diabetes, kidney disease and leukemia.
