Using Food Timing as an Intervention to Improve Medication Compliance

Using Food Timing as an Intervention to Improve Medication Compliance

Saibal Kumar Saha, Anindita Adhikary, Ajeya Jha, Vijay K. Mehta
Copyright: © 2021 |Pages: 16
DOI: 10.4018/IJRQEH.2021070102
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Abstract

Medication non-compliance is common among patients suffering from chronic disease. The research aims to find the effectiveness of food timing as a form of intervention to improve medication compliance. 509 patients were interviewed who were under the medication and had their treatment from Central Referral Hospital, Sikkim. The technique of probability estimates, risk difference, relative risk, and odds ratios were used to do the analysis and predictions of medication compliance when food timing was used as a form of reminder. Analysis of confidence interval at 95% ensured that the results obtained were due to the use of reminder and not by chance. The study reveals that with the help of food timing as a form of reminder, a patient has 50.2% lower odds of deferring from the scheduled time of medicine. There are 129.2% greater odds of completing the course of medication, 41.4% lower odds of missing the medication consciously, and there are 56.6% lower odds of missing the medication dose. The probability numbers indicate the effectiveness of usage of this form of reminder.
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Background

Different strategies are used to increase the medication compliance rate of patients. Commonly used reminder systems are sticky notes (Dai et al., 2017), pillboxes (Mehdinia et al., 2020) and reminder systems provided by healthcare professionals. Designing a personal medication management system is also common among patients. In this patients use certain spatial features present in their homes which involves their everyday habits like visiting certain parts of their house or doing some activity which reminds them to take their medication (Palen & Aaløkke, 2006). Studies report that pillboxes can increase compliance by (53% to 68%) (Mehdinia et al., 2020). Effective interventions have been reported to be multifarious and costly (McDonald et al., 2002).

Generally, the compliance rate is higher among patients who suffer from acute condition compared to those suffering from chronic diseases (Osterberg & Blaschke, 2005). For patients above 70 years of age, the compliance rate is lower and is strongly associated with cognitive factors (Dunbar-Jacob & Mortimer-Stephens, 2001). Compliance is low among patients suffering from chronic diseases and also among patients who procrastinated their treatment (Fenton et al., 1997). Various factors have been associated with medication non-compliance behaviour of patients:

  • 1.

    Patient factors like dexterity, low health literacy, concerns about side effects, cognition, memory and beliefs about medication and disease.

  • 2.

    Provider factors like communications skill and regime complexity and quality of communication.

  • 3.

    Healthcare system factors like accessibility to pharmacy or physician, cost, coverage, restrictions and medication system complexity.

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