Randomized Pilot Trial of Cell Phone Support to Improve Medication Adherence among Adolescents and Young Adults with Chronic Health Conditions

Abstract

Abstract Background Adolescents and young adults (AYA) living with chronic health conditions often struggle to develop medication adherence skills. This pilot trial evaluated the impact of a mobile health coaching intervention, Cell Phone Support (CPS), on medication adherence. Methods Conditions in this randomized trial (NCT04241627; registered 1/27/2020) were CPS delivered by phone calls (CPS-C), CPS delivered by text messages (CPS-T), or automated text message reminders (ATR). Participants were AYA with different chronic health conditions (i.e., sickle cell disease, solid organ transplant, type 2 diabetes), aged 15–20 years (N = 34). We examined the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of both CPS interventions. Results CPS was feasible and acceptable. There was evidence that participants found CPS to be more useful than ATR. In this pilot trial, participants receiving CPS reported relatively stronger increases in adherence, compared to those assigned to ATR. CPS-C slightly outperformed CPS-T. Conclusions Providing coaching to AYA struggling with illness self-management via their cell phones may promote their acquisition of medication adherence skills. Although larger studies are needed to confirm the results of this pilot study, phone calls and text messages are both promising modalities for delivering human cell phone support.