Usefulness of the Medissimo Nurse Application for Supporting Medication Compliance in Elderly People With Chronic Polypathologies

Overview

In this study, the investigators are interested in the Medissimo nurse application, which is a medication monitoring application for the elderly dedicated to self-employed nurses. The aim is to estimate the consistency of the measure of medication compliance assessed by this application with reference measures, as well as the user experience of healthcare professionals with this application.

Introduction : As people age, the number of chronic illnesses in the same person tends to increase. Poor compliance with treatment or interrupted medication exposes patients to risks to their health, and the consequences represent avoidable costs for the healthcare system. In practice, however, it is not easy to measure compliance with medication. E-health devices dedicated to taking medication represent a new way of measuring medication adherence, a necessary step towards improving it. Objectives : Main: To assess the concordance of adherence measurement by the Medissimo nurse application used in an existing e-Health device aimed at improving the dispensing and monitoring of prescribed medication for people living at home, with reference measurements.Secondary: To explore the user-experience of the healthcare professionals (pharmacists, nurses and GPs) involved with two aspects: use of the application itself and interest in the reports generated by this application. Methods : Methodological design: Cross-sectional observational study in routine care (RIPH3). Patients: The study will focus on one hundred patients aged over 65, who are already Medipac® pillbox users and receive home nursing visits as part of their usual care. Each month, the beneficiaries of the service receive weekly pillboxes prepared by the referring pharmacist, and the homecare nurses are equipped with the Medissimo nurse smartphone application, which can be used to record the quality of doses taken, any undesirable effects, reasons for not taking the medication and dose adjustments. The system generates a monthly report summarising this monitoring, which is shared with the referring pharmacist and sent to the GP. In this way, the system produces a measure of medication compliance. To validate this measure, the investigators will carry out two reference measures of compliance with medication for the same patients: the Morisky questionnaire (completed by the home care nurse during a regular visit) and the pill count by the referring pharmacist when the pillboxes are renewed. The analysis will focus on the concordance between overall medication compliance measured by the Medissimo nurse application and that given by reference measurements. Healthcare professionals: The study will also involve 60 healthcare professionals (20 nurses, 20 pharmacists, 20 GPs) affected by the application, in order to assess their user experience. For nurses' use of the application, the investigators will use the System Usability Scale (SUS) questionnaire in a telephone interview. To assess interest in the monthly reports sent to these professionals, the investigators will use a Likert-type questionnaire in a telephone interview. Future prospects: If the application's compliance measurements are consistent with the reference measurements, the system could provide an additional means of supporting compliance with medication. Finally, if the data on the user experience and the monthly reports drawn up by the application are positive, it could represent a quick and easy way for professionals to coordinate the management of patients followed at home.