Use of Smartphone-Based Video Directly Observed Therapy to Increase Tuberculosis Medication Adherence: An Interventional Study
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31661/gmj.v12i.3067Keywords:
MDR-TB, Medication Adherence, Saudi Arabia, Smartphone, Tuberculosis, VDOTAbstract
Background: Tuberculosis (TB) treatment through Directly Observed Therapy (DOT) has an alternative form of video surveillance therapy (VOT) that utilizes the technological capabilities of smartphones to provide patients with low-cost access to doctors without impacting their work and personal life. We aimed to assess TB patients’ drug compliance, perceptions, and feasibility towards smartphone-based video direct observed therapy (VDOT) in Jeddah, KSA. Materials and Methods: We conducted a prospective non-randomized interventional study. We delivered smartphone-based VDOT among previously unstudied patients to monitor adherence to the treatment regimen. The expected total number of VDOT sessions was1200. We conducted post-intervention interviews to assess acceptability and satisfaction. Results: In this study, we included 20 participants, 16 of whom were males, with a mean age of 34.3 (±12.5) years. No side effects to the treatments were identified in all participants. The adherence rate for the total period was 93% and 99.5%, measured by the first and second methods, respectively. Most participants were satisfied with the VDOT experience, the time spent on sessions, and the approach’s privacy. Conclusion: This study provides promising results for the feasibility and effectiveness of smartphone-based VDOT for TB treatment to increase adherence which was indicated by a high compliance rate, acceptability, and high satisfaction level.
References
Global Tuberculosis Report 2020.: World Health Organization.
Martin LR, Williams SL, Haskard KB, DiMatteo MR. The challenge of patient adherence. Therapeutics and clinical risk management. 2005;1(3):189.
Story A, Aldridge RW, Smith CM, Garber E, Hall J, Ferenando G, et al. Smartphone-enabled video-observed versus directly observed treatment for tuberculosis: a multicentre, analyst-blinded, randomised, controlled superiority trial. The Lancet. 2019;393(10177):1216-24.
Molton JS, Pang Y, Wang Z, Qiu B, Wu P, Rahman-Shepherd A, et al. Prospective single-arm interventional pilot study to assess a smartphone-based system for measuring and supporting adherence to medication. BMJ open. 2016;6(12):e014194.
Rabinovich L, Molton JS, Ooi WT, Paton NI, Batra S, Yoong J. Perceptions and acceptability of digital interventions among tuberculosis patients in Cambodia: qualitative study of video-based directly observed therapy. Journal of Medical Internet Research. 2020;22(7):e16856.
Mirsaeidi M, Farshidpour M, Banks-Tripp D, Hashmi S, Kujoth C, Schraufnagel D. Video directly observed therapy for treatment of tuberculosis is patient-oriented and cost-effective. European Respiratory Journal. 2015;46(3):871-4.
Chuck C, Robinson E, Macaraig M, Alexander M, Burzynski J. Enhancing management of tuberculosis treatment with video directly observed therapy in New York City. The International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease. 2016;20(5):588-93.
Hayward A, Garber E. TB Reach 5: to compare the efficacy of video observed treatment (VOT) versus directly observed treatment (DOT) in supporting adherence in patients with active tuberculosis. 2015.
Skrahina A, Falzon D, Rusovich V, Zhylevich L, Dara M, Sinkou H, et al. Video observed treatment for tuberculosis patients in Belarus. Eur Respiratory Soc. 2017;49(3):1602049.
Ingram D. Video directly observed therapy: Enhancing care for patients with active tuberculosis. Nursing2020. 2018;48(5):64-6.
Subbaraman R, de Mondesert L, Musiimenta A, Pai M, Mayer KH, Thomas BE, et al. Digital adherence technologies for the management of tuberculosis therapy: mapping the landscape and research priorities. BMJ global health. 2018;3(5):e001018.
Macaraig M, Lobato MN, Pilote KM, Wegener D. A national survey on the use of electronic directly observed therapy for treatment of tuberculosis. Journal of Public Health Management and Practice. 132018;24(6):567-70.
Garfe15in RS, Liu L, Cuevas-Mota J, Collins K, Muñoz F, Catanzaro DG, et al. Tuberculosis treatment monitoring by video directly observed therapy in 5 health districts, California, USA. Emerging infectious diseases. 2018;24(10):1806.
Global tuberculosis report 2022. World Health Organization, 2023. (Accessed June 7,2023, at https://www.who.int/teams/global-tuberculosis-programme/tb-reports/global-tuberculosis-report-2022.
Electronic Directly Observed Therapy for Active TB Disease: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; October 04, 2019 [Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/nchhstp/highimpactprevention/promising-hip-intervention.html.
National Tuberculosis Program Manual 2021. Available from: https://www.moh.gov.sa/Documents/National-TB-program-1.pdf.
Chaudhry LA Al-Tawfiq J Ba-Essa E Robert AA. Low rate of non-compliance to antituberculous therapy under the banner of directly observed treatment short course (dots) strategy and well organized retrieval system: a call for implementation of this strategy at all dots centers in saudi arabia. The pan african medical journal. 2015:267-267.
Story A Aldridge RW Smith CM et al. Smartphone-enabled video-observed versus directly observed treatment for tuberculosis: a multicentre analyst-blinded randomised controlled superiority trial. Lancet (london england). 2019:1216-1224.
-Nahid P, Dorman SE, Alipanah N, et al. Official American thoracic society centers for disease control and prevention infectious diseases Society of America clinical practice guidelines treatment of drug-susceptible tuberculosis. Clinical Infectious Diseases. 2016;63:e147–95.
World Health Organization. Global tuberculosis report 2016. http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/250441/1/ 9789241565394-eng.pdf Date last accessed: June 8, 2023.
Thakkar D, Piparva KG, Lakkad SG. A pilot project: 99DOTS information communication technology-based approach for tuberculosis treatment in Rajkot district. Lung India. 2019 Mar-Apr;36(2):108-111.
Garfein RS, Collins K, Muñoz F, Moser K, Cerecer-Callu P, Raab F, Rios P, Flick A, Zúñiga ML, Cuevas-Mota J, Liang K, Rangel G, Burgos JL, Rodwell TC, Patrick K. Feasibility of tuberculosis treatment monitoring by video directly observed therapy: a binational pilot study. Int J Tuberc Lung Dis. 2015 Sep;19(9):1057-64.
Holzman SB, Atre S, Sahasrabudhe T, Ambike S, Jagtap D, Sayyad Y, Kakrani AL, Gupta A, Mave V, Shah M. Use of Smartphone-Based Video Directly Observed Therapy (VDOT) in Tuberculosis Care: Single-Arm, Prospective Feasibility Study. JMIR Form Res. 2019 Aug 27;3(3):e13411.
Bommakanti KK, Smith LL, Liu L, et al. Requiring smartphone ownership for mHealth interventions: who could be left out? BMC Public Health. 2020;20(1):81.
Sekandi JN, Kasiita V, Onuoha NA, et al. Stakeholders' Perceptions of Benefits of and Barriers to Using Video-Observed Treatment for Monitoring Patients With Tuberculosis in Uganda: Exploratory Qualitative Study. JMIR Mhealth Uhealth. 2021;9(10):e27131.
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2023 Galen Medical Journal
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
