Technology-based methods in the improvement of therapy compliance among ambulatory cardiac patients: one-year follow-up data

Aim. To assess the impact of automatic telephone survey with a differentiated reminder text, as well as of the survey combination with the self-control dairy, on the compliance with lipid-lowering and antihypertensive therapy and on therapy effectiveness during the longterm ambulatory follow-up.
Material and methods. The study included 604 patients: 323 individuals with high or very high cardiovascular risk levels by SCORE scale and 281 participants with coronary heart disease (CHD). The patients were divided into two groups, according to their agreement to participate in the automatic telephone reminder survey (“Survey” and “Refusal”). All participants were also given a self-control diary. At baseline and one year later, the patients underwent general clinical examination, office blood pressure (BP) measurement, blood biochemistry assessment, and the measurement of therapy compliance (Morisky-Green test), anxiety, and depression levels (HADS scale).
Results. The reduction in diastolic BP levels was significantly larger in the Survey group (p=0,04). This group also demonstrated a significantly larger decrease in the levels of total cholesterol (TCH) (p=0,0003) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-CH) (p=0,001), as well as a significantly larger increase in the levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-CH) (p=0,04). The therapy compliance, assessed by the Morisky-Green test, improved in both groups; however, among CHD patients, a significant improvement was observed only in the Survey group (p<0,00001). The percentage of patients submitting their self-control diaries was higher for the Survey group (p<0,0001).
Conclusion. The automatic telephone reminder method provides an opportunity to significantly increase the therapy compliance.

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