Effectiveness of an Innovative Nursing Approach Through a Smartphone Application in Promoting Medication Adherence Among Patients with Schizophrenia

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the effects of an innovative nursing approach using a smartphone application, namely “Kin Ya Kan Na” or “Let’s take Medications,” on medication adherence behaviors among patients with schizophrenia. Material and Methods: Purposive sampling was used to recruit the participants (n=84). They were randomly assigned into either an experimental (n=42) or control (n=42) group. The experimental group installed this application on their smartphones and used it for one month, along with usual nursing care while the control group received only the usual nursing care. Data were collected before and after the intervention using: 1) a demographic data form, 2) the Medication Adherence Scale in Thai (MAST), and 3) a satisfaction towards application usability’ scale. These two scales yielded Cronbach alpha coefficients of 0.94 and 0.86, respectively. Descriptive statistics and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) were employed for data analyses. Results: The post-intervention analysis showed that the medication adherence behaviors between the two groups were significantly different (F1,81=65.225, p-value<0.001), with higher mean scores for medication adherence behaviors in theexperimental group. The application users reported that they were highly satisfied with the application (M=4.51, S.D.=0.38).Conclusion: The study found that use of this innovative nursing approach significantly improved medication adherence behaviors among these patients. Therefore, nurses and related healthcare providers could apply this approach to promote medication adherence behaviors in patients with mental illness, particularly schizophrenia.