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A web-based and mobile health social support intervention to promote adherence to inhaled asthma medications: randomized controlled trial

Koufopoulos, J.T.
Conner, M.T.
Kellar, P.
Publication Date
2016-06
End of Embargo
Supervisor
Rights
©Justin T Koufopoulos, Mark T Conner, Peter H Gardner, Ian Kellar. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (http://www.jmir.org), 13.06.2016. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research, is properly cited. The complete bibliographic information, a link to the original publication on http://www.jmir.org/, as well as this copyright and license information must be included.
Peer-Reviewed
Yes
Open Access status
openAccess
Accepted for publication
2016-01-04
Institution
Department
Awarded
Embargo end date
Additional title
Abstract
Background: Online communities hold great potential as interventions for health, particularly for the management of chronic illness. The social support that online communities can provide has been associated with positive treatment outcomes, including medication adherence. There are few studies that have attempted to assess whether membership of an online community improves health outcomes using rigorous designs. Objective: Our objective was to conduct a rigorous proof-of-concept randomized controlled trial of an online community intervention for improving adherence to asthma medicine. Methods: This 9-week intervention included a sample of asthmatic adults from the United Kingdom who were prescribed an inhaled corticosteroid preventer. Participants were recruited via email and randomized to either an “online community” or “no online community” (diary) condition. After each instance of preventer use, participants (N=216) were required to report the number of doses of medication taken in a short post. Those randomized to the online community condition (n=99) could read the posts of other community members, reply, and create their own posts. Participants randomized to the no online community condition (n=117) also posted their medication use, but could not read others’ posts. The main outcome measures were self-reported medication adherence at baseline and follow-up (9 weeks postbaseline) and an objective measure of adherence to the intervention (visits to site). Results: In all, 103 participants completed the study (intervention: 37.8%, 39/99; control: 62.2%, 64/117). MANCOVA of self-reported adherence to asthma preventer medicine at follow-up was not significantly different between conditions in either intention-to-treat (P=.92) or per-protocol (P=.68) analysis. Site use was generally higher in the control compared to intervention conditions. Conclusions: Joining an online community did not improve adherence to preventer medication for asthma patients. Without the encouragement of greater community support or more components
Version
Published version
Citation
Koufopoulos JT, Conner MT, Gardner PH et al (2016) A web-based and mobile health social support intervention to promote adherence to inhaled asthma medications: randomized controlled trial. Journal of Medical Internet Research. 18(6): e122.
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Article
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