Text Messaging May Help HIV Patients Take Medications Consistently
A new Cochrane Systematic Review reveals that mobile phones could be a significant tool in helping HIV patients take their medication every day. Data from two Kenyan trials involving 966 HIV-positive adults were reviewed by researchers and found that patients receiving text messages reminding them to take their medications were less likely to miss doses.
The researchers are saying that text messaging could be used to help millions of HIV patients on antiretroviral therapy (ART) stick to these regimens. Antiretroviral therapy are given to HIV patients to make them feel better and live longer. When a patient miss a daily dose, it can result in the drugs no longer being effective and the patients could die.
Lead author Tara Horvath of Global Health Sciences at the University of California, San Francisco in the United States, said ” There is high-quality evidence for the benefit of sending weekly text messages to promote adherence to antiretroviral therapy. Clinics and hospitals should consider using weekly text messaging as a way to ensure HIV patients stick to their antiretroviral therapy regimens.”
The findings highlight the potential of text messaging in making a significant impact on the HIV epidemic, especially because HIV is much less likely to be transmitted to sexual partners in patients who are taking their daily medication.
More than 34 million people are presently living with HIV infection. The antiretroviral therapy, despite being very helpful in HIV patients, can have side effects that make medication adherence challenging.
Tags: fight HIV, hiv, HIV patients treatment, text messaging benefits in healthcare
