Digital Pharmacotherapy Support for Medication Adherence

Abstract

Scientific relevance. Medication adherence is an important condition for effective and safe treatment. The adherence of patients to prescriptions is tracked by assessing their condition, counting the pills taken, and using other indirect methods. Digital technologies can help healthcare providers improve their patients’ medication adherence.Aim. The authors aimed to review literature describing the medication adherence impact on treatment effectiveness, as well as digital solutions accompanying pharmacotherapy.Discussion. Poor adherence to treatment is a significant risk factor for patients. The most common examples of poor adherence are omissions and delays in the timing of doses. Compared with classical daily dosing, individualised regimens significantly increase the risk of adherence errors. Significant consequences of non-adherence include exacerbation of the disease, insufficient effectiveness of treatment, adverse drug reactions, and drug resistance. Promising hardware and software approaches to supporting medication adherence include innovative technological solutions (pillboxes, bottles with electronic reminder systems, digital pills, and smart medication adherence monitoring systems), mobile apps, and chatbots.Conclusions. Digital solutions to support pharmacotherapy help improve patients’ adherence to their dosing regimens and individualise their treatment. Further research is needed to select the most promising areas and develop novel digital technologies.