Medication adherence in patients with mental disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis of telemedicine interventions

Background and objective: Telemedicine interventions have emerged as a promising solution to improve medication adherence by providing remote support and monitoring of patients with mental disorders. This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of telemedicine interventions in enhancing medication adherence among patients with mental disorders.Methods: PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science were searched systematically. After deleting the double-included studies, two researchers independently selected articles and extracted data using a standardized data collection form. The risk of bias in the included studies was assessed using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool. The intervention effects were combined using a random effects model. Standardized mean differences (Hedges's g) between the treatment and control groups were calculated. Heterogeneity variance was estimated using the Q test and I2 statistic. The analysis was performed in Stata version 17.0.Results: Out of the 1088 articles retrieved, nine studies were included in the analysis. Overall, telemedicine interventions demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in medication adherence among patients with mental disorders (Hedges' g = 0.25, 95% confidence interval: 0.12-0.38, p-value: < 0.01). The type of mental disorder was a significant moderator of the heterogeneity between studies (p = 0.022).Conclusion: Telemedicine interventions have a positive impact on medication adherence in patients with mental disorders by offering remote support and monitoring. Integrating telemedicine into mental healthcare can enhance overall adherence rates, leading to improved management of mental disorders.