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Basilika Mariatrost und Bildungshaus Mariatros

Investigating and evaluating evidence of the behavioural determinants of adherence to social distancing measures – A protocol for a scoping review of COVID-19 research

Background: The WHO has declared the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) as a pandemic. With no vaccine currently available, using behavioural measures to reduce the spread of the virus within the population is an important tool in mitigating the effects of this pandemic. As such, social distancing measures are being implemented globally and have proven an effective tool in slowing the large-scale spread of the virus. Aim: This scoping review will focus on answering key questions about the state of the evidence on the behavioural determinants of adherence to social distancing measures in research on COVID-19. Methods: A scoping review will be conducted in accordance with guidelines for best practice. Literature searches will be conducted using online databases and grey literature sources. Databases will include Medline, Web of Science, Embase and PsycInfo, alongside relevant pre-print servers. Grey literature will be searched on Google Scholar. Screening, data extraction and quality appraisal will be conducted by members of the research team, with any discrepancies resolved by consensus discussion. Quality appraisal will be conducted using the Cochrane’s ROBINS-I tool, the Cochrane Risk of Bias tool, and the JBI Critical Appraisal Checklist where appropriate. Results will be analysed by mapping findings onto the Theoretical Domains Framework and visualising characteristics of the included studies using EviAtlas. This scoping review is pre-registered with Open Science Framework. Conclusions: The results of this study may facilitate the systematic development of behavioural interventions to increase adherence to social distancing measures

Developing the evidence base for a digital intervention to enhance adherence to medication in people with hypertension

Background. Hypertension is a chronic condition in which the blood vessels have persistently raised pressure. It is a major modifiable risk factor for both cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease. Hypertension is estimated to affect one billion people worldwide and is therefore a global health challenge. The pharmacological treatment of hypertension has led to substantial benefits in the prevention of morbidity and mortality from cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease. However, despite their established efficacy, there is a significant problem of non-adherence to anti-hypertensive medications in those diagnosed and prescribed this treatment; therefore the effectiveness of current medications is sub-optimal. Traditionally, intervention to enhance adherence to anti-hypertension have been delivered face to face or over the telephone. Digital interventions, such as those delivered via smartphone apps, offer a new, scalable and potentially cost-effective way to improve adherence to anti-hypertensive medications. However as the growth of these platforms has been relatively recent, little is known about the development, acceptability, usability and feasibility of these type of interventions. Aim. The aim of this research is to develop the evidence base for a digital intervention to enhance medication adherence in people living with hypertension. Methods. The studies conducted in this research were based on the development phase of the UK Medical Research Council Framework for developing complex interventions. In the first study a systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted to identify evidence base related to interventions to enhance adherence in hypertension. In order to characterise the technology base, the second study was a content analysis of smartphone apps to enhance medication adherence. Two qualitative studies were then conducted, the first with GPs and the second with patients with hypertension in order to explore their thoughts and views around using a smartphone app to manage their medication adherence. Thematic analysis was conducted in both these studies. Findings. The systematic review found tentative evidence to suggest that medication adherence interventions significantly lower blood pressure values. However, there was substantial heterogeneity amongst the included RCTs and many potential biases as the number of low risk of bias studies was limited. The content analysis of existing mobile phone applications highlighted a lack of behavioural theory and evidence integrated into commercially available medication adherence apps. Participants in both qualitative studies (GPs and patients with hypertension) could see benefit as well as expressing concern about a digital intervention such as a smartphone app. Both parties felt it could be empowering but also had reservations about the possible anxiety inducing nature of excessive engagement with the intervention. Conclusion. The findings of this research contribute to insights in relation to the development of a digital intervention to enhance medication adherence in hypertension. The use of theory, systematic review and qualitative work means that this research was an appropriate enhancement of the evidence base and provides a platform for future intervention development

Getting started with Network Meta-analysis in Health Psychology

Supplementary material for Noone et al. (2018

Behavior change techniques in apps for medication adherence: A Content Analysis

INTRODUCTION: There are a vast number of smartphone applications (apps) aimed at promoting medication adherence on the market; however, the theory and evidence base in terms of applying established health behavior change techniques underpinning these apps remains unclear. This study aimed to code these apps using the Behavior Change Technique Taxonomy (v1) for the presence or absence of established behavior change techniques.METHODS: The sample of apps was identified through systematic searches in both the Google Play Store and Apple App Store in February 2015. All apps that fell into the search categories were downloaded for analysis. The downloaded apps were screened with exclusion criteria, and suitable apps were reviewed and coded for behavior change techniques in March 2015. Two researchers performed coding independently.RESULTS: In total, 166 medication adherence apps were identified and coded. The number of behavior change techniques contained in an app ranged from zero to seven (mean=2.77). A total of 12 of a possible 96 behavior change techniques were found to be present across apps. The most commonly included behavior change techniques were "action planning" and "prompt/cues," which were included in 96% of apps, followed by "self-monitoring" (37%) and "feedback on behavior" (36%).CONCLUSIONS: The current extent to which established behavior change techniques are used in medication adherence apps is limited. The development of medication adherence apps may not have benefited from advances in the theory and practice of health behavior change.</p

Identifying current evidence exploring the role of social media in diabetes support, outcomes, and lifestyle: A Systematic Scoping Review

This Systematic Scoping Review will identify and describe the existing literature on social media use in the context of diabetes. This will follow a systematic process to ‘map’ evidence on this subject, drawn from various knowledge sources, in order to provide a synthesis of existing published work. The focus will consider studies which explore the use of social media as an intervention, interventions delivered via social media platforms or mobile applications, and perspectives toward and functions and experiences of social media in daily life. The review will identify and describe study design features, research concepts, social media contexts, and highlight key observations. The research question is as follows: What are the characteristics and main messages of studies (i.e. location of studies, diabetes populations, social media context, research aims/objectives, study designs (including use of theory), outcomes of interest and other key observations) exploring social media use in the context of diabetes? With growing use of social media in diabetes, particularly since the COVID-19 outbreak, this review will provide a map of existing evidence on this broad and complex topic. This mapping exercise will signpost researchers and clinicians to relevant existing sources, while also highlighting areas of research on this topic, which are lacking