Improving Antibiotics Adherence by Antibiotics Education with Medisafe® Application Compared with Routine Service in University Pharmacy

Abstract

Introduction: Nonadherence of antibiotics in community pharmacy can cause ineffective treatment and bacterial resistance. The increasing of antibiotic resistance rate was important public health problem in Thailand. The objective of this randomized controlled trial was to determine if an increase in adherence of antibiotics usage occurred by providing antibiotics education and using the |MediSafe®} when compared to the routine services of the MSU community pharmacy. Methods: Sixty patients who diagnosed with tonsillitis, pharyngitis, sinusitis, acute diarrhea or uncomplicatedcystitis between January and March 2016 were included. The intervention group was given antibiotics education and MediSafe® for medication reminder. Both groups were tested on antibiotics knowledge before and after the experiment and were followed up two times; three days after taken the medicine and at the end of the experiment. The percent of adherence in antibiotics usage was also assessed. Results: The number of patients in the experimental group who correctly used antibiotics was statistically higher than the control group. (30 and 16; respectively, p<0.001). The percentage of adherence in the experimental group was significantly higher than the control group (97.0±5.81 and 77.2±14.84; respectively, p<0.001). The patients who had improved clinical symptoms in both groups was not different (p>0.05). The average scores of knowledge on antibiotics in the experimental group was statistically significantly higher than the control group (12.5±2.01 and10.0±2.31, respectively, p<0.001). Conclusions: The study showed that MediSafe® along with antibiotics education can improve adherence in antibiotics therapy.