Impact of mHealth on Adherence and Patient Outcomes Needs Improving. How "Open, Crowdsourced" Data from Pharma Can Help

A study just published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (JMIR) concludes that "there is potential for mHealth tools to better facilitate adherence to chronic disease management, but the evidence supporting its current effectiveness is mixed. Further research should focus on understanding and improving how mHealth tools can overcome specific barriers to adherence."

The study was a systematic review of 107 studies published in peer-reviewed journals. It aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of mHealth in supporting adherence of patients to chronic disease management -- which the authors call “mAdherence” -- and the usability, feasibility, and acceptability of mAdherence tools and platforms for chronic disease management.

The authors classified mAdherence tools and platforms into four main categories: SMS; phone plus software or application; phone plus specific instrument (medical device connected to phone via a cord); or phone plus wireless or Bluetooth-compatible device (see figure below):

Types of mobile tools used in mAdherence. Click on image to enlarge.

What were the results and how can the pharmaceutical industry help?

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