Asthma
Conditions
Keywords
asthma, mHealth, cluster randomized controlled trial, pharmacy practice, pharmacist
Brief summary
Between 8% and 12% of Canadians suffer from asthma. Although there are effective and inexpensive treatments, adherence to asthma treatment is amongst the lowest for all chronic diseases.The purpose of this study is to determine whether enhancing the role of community pharmacists in asthma management using interactive short messaging service (SMS) with asthma patients is a cost-effective model that will improve adherence to inhaled corticosteroid medications compared to usual care.
Interventions
OTHERInteractive SMS
OTHERUsual care
Sponsors
WelTel
College of Pharmacists of British Columbia
Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)
University of British Columbia
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH
Masking
NONE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
14 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* individuals who fill a (incident or prevalent) prescription for inhaled corticosteroids (either monotherapy or in combination inhaler with long-acting beta-agonists) who have been diagnosed by a doctor as having asthma * possessing a cell-phone with ability to send/receive text messages * residing in British Columbia (BC), Canada and planning to reside in BC for the next 12 months * registered with the medical services plan (MSP, the provincial insure of medically-required services) in the past 12 months, and planning to remain registered for the next 12 months * designated pharmacy being the main drugstore for patient * not participating in another interventional study * consent to participate in the study.
Exclusion criteria
* Unable to communicate in English * Under 14 years of age
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Adherence to inhaled corticosteroid medication | 12 months | Adherence assessed by medication possession ratio |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Use of reliever medication for acute asthma attacks | 12 months | Use of reliever medication for acute asthma attacks |
| Asthma control | Baseline | Asthma control assessed by the Asthma Control Test |
| Quality of life measured by the Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire | Baseline | Quality of life measured by the Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire |
| Health care resource utilization | 12 months | Asthma-related hospital admissions and emergency department visits |
Countries
Canada
Outcome results
None listed