To examine the effects of a tailored telehealth educational intervention on medication adherence and disease activity in discharged patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
An un-blinded randomized controlled trial.
A total of 92 eligible patients were recruited from January 2015-December 2015. Participants were randomly assigned to either the intervention (N = 46) or control group (N = 46). The intervention group received four educational sessions delivered through a telephone across a 12-week intervention. The content of the education mainly included: subject's knowledge about disease; treatment goals; the importance of taking medication correctly; side effect management; remembering to take medication. The control group received only standard care including discharge instructions. Outcome measures included medication adherence and disease activity.
The intervention group had significantly higher medication adherence compared with the control group at 12th and 24th week. There was no significant difference between two groups in disease activity at 12th and 24th week.
Good medication adherence in rheumatoid arthritis patients contributes to controlling symptom and inflammation, preventing the progressive structural damage. This study demonstrated that the telehealth educational intervention could improve patients' medication adherence but did not have a direct impact on clinical condition in the short-term. The intervention for discharged patients with rheumatoid arthritis can be integrated into the clinical setting by the nursing staff as follow-up care.
ChiCTR-IPR-14005722.
目的: 探讨针对性的远距照护教育干预对类风湿性关节炎(RA)出院患者用药依从性和疾病活动性的影响。 设计: 非盲随机对照试验。 方法: 自2015年1月至2015年12月期间共招募92名符合条件的患者。将参与者随机分为两组:干预组(N=46)和对照组(N=46)。干预组在为期12周的干预措施中通过电话共接受了4次照护教育。教育内容主要包括:受试者疾病知识指导;治疗目标;正确服药的重要性;副作用管理;记住服药。而对照组仅接受标准护理,包括出院指导。结果指标包括用药依从性和疾病活动性。 结果: 干预组在第12周和第24周的用药依从性明显高于对照组。两组在第12周和第24周的疾病活动性无显著差异。 结论: 通过电话进行的针对性的教育干预可有效提高类风湿性关节炎出院患者的用药依从性。然而,尚未发现干预对疾病活动性有显著影响。 影响: 类风湿性关节炎患者良好的用药依从性有助于控制症状和炎症,防止出现进行性结构损伤。本项研究表明,远距照护教育干预可提高患者的服药依从性,但短期内对临床状况无直接影响。针对类风湿性关节炎出院患者的干预可由护理人员纳入临床环境作为后续护理。试验注册号:ChiCTR-IPR-14005722。.
The telephone-delivered tailored educational intervention effectively improved medication adherence among discharged patients with rheumatoid arthritis. However, no significant benefits of the intervention on disease activity were detected.