Study of the effect of reminder devices on medication adherence

In the REMIND randomized clinical trial, Choudhry et al. (2017) compared the effect of 3 low-cost reminder devices on medication adherence in a 4-arm, block-randomized clinical trial. They conducted the trial among 53,480 participants across the US, aged between 18 to 64 that were taking 1 to 3 oral medications to treat common chronic conditions. The participants randomized into using 4 different methods: a pill bottle strip with toggles, a digital timer cap, an standard pill box and no notification or device.

The result of the trial showed that low-cost reminder devices did not improve adherence among non-adherent patients. Patients with standard pillbox had higher adherence than those with digital timer cap and pill bottle strip with toggles.

The trial concluded that the devices may have been more effective if coupled with interventions to ensure consistent use or if targeted to individuals with an even higher risk of nonadherence. An end-to-end solution that involves both reminder device and in-human intervention would be an effective solution.