Intervention Enhancing Medication Adherence in Stroke Patients: An Integrative Review

Abstract

Objective: This review aimed to systematically identify and analyze randomized controlled trials (RCTs) reported in the literature that were related to interventions targeted at enhancing medication adherence in stroke patients. Materials and Methods: The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) system was applied to present the process flow, including study identification, screening, exclusion, and inclusion. The PubMed electronic database was searched, and the reference lists of relevant studies were reviewed from 2015 until 2020 to identify relevant RCTs. Results: The results identified nine relevant RCTs, which included a medication-taking reminder mobile application (Medisafe), health empowerment interventions, telehealth education, and motivational interviews as the medication adherence enhancement interventions that have been most often used in the past five years. Furthermore, these RCTs mainly aimed to improve patients’ medication adherence, physical activity, and clinical outcome, such as blood pressure and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Conclusion: This integrative review has implications for the heightened recognition of the necessity for interventions aimed at enhancing patients’ adherence to their medication, and that could be applied in clinical practice.