Secondary prevention strategies after acute coronary syndrome (ACS) presentation with the use of drug combinations are essential to reduce the recurrence of cardiovascular events. However, lack of drug adherence is known to be common in this population and to be related to treatment failure. To improve drug adherence, we developed the "Mon Coeur, Mon BASIC" video. This online video has been specifically designed to inform patients about their disease and their current medications. Interactivity has been used to increase patient attention, and the video can also be viewed on smartphones and tablets.
The objective of this study was to assess the long-term impact of an informative web-based video on drug adherence in patients admitted for an ACS.
This randomized study was conducted with consecutive patients admitted to University Hospital of Lausanne for ACS. We randomized patients to an intervention group, which had access to the web-based video and a short interview with the pharmacist, and a control group receiving usual care. The primary outcome was the difference in drug adherence, assessed with the Adherence to Refills and Medication Scale (ARMS; 9 multiple-choice questions, scores ranging from 12 for perfect adherence to 48 for lack of adherence), between groups at 1, 3, and 6 months. We assessed the difference in ARMS score between both groups with the Wilcoxon rank sum test. Secondary outcomes were differences in knowledge, readmissions, and emergency room visits between groups and patients' satisfaction with the video.
Sixty patients were included at baseline. The median age of the participants was 59 years (IQR 49-69), and 85% (51/60) were male. At 1 month, 51 patients participated in the follow-up, 50 patients participated at 3 months, and 47 patients participated at 6 months. The mean ARMS scores at 1 and 6 months did not differ between the intervention and control groups (13.24 vs 13.15, 13.52 vs 13.68, respectively). At 3 months, this score was significantly lower in the intervention group than in the control group (12.54 vs 13.75; P=.03). We observed significant increases in knowledge from baseline to 1 and 3 months, but not to 6 months, in the intervention group. Readmissions and emergency room visits have been very rare, and the proportion was not different among groups. Patients in the intervention group were highly satisfied with the video.
Despite a lower sample size than we expected to reach, we observed that the "Mon Coeur, Mon BASIC" web-based interactive video improved patients' knowledge and seemed to have an impact on drug adherence. These results are encouraging, and the video will be offered to all patients admitted to our hospital with ACS.
ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03949608; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03949608.