Improving Medication Adherence Among People With Schizophrenia Through the Use of 2-way Pagers

September 22, 2017 updated by: Delbert Robinson, Northwell Health

2-Way Pagers to Improve Schizophrenia Medication Adherence

This study will determine whether using a pager improves medication adherence in people with schizophrenia.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Schizophrenia is a life-long brain disorder affecting approximately 1 percent of Americans each year. Schizophrenia can be extremely disabling, causing people to hear voices, experience paranoia or hallucinations, and believe that others are controlling their thoughts. Many people with schizophrenia have difficulty with remembering their scheduled doctor's appointments and with taking their medication on time because of their mental illness. Many approved medications for schizophrenia must be taken several times a day and side effects such as drowsiness, dizziness, and even weight gain can deter a person from consistently taking their medication on time. Therefore, this study will determine whether a 2-way pager will help people with schizophrenia to remember their doctor's appointments and to take their medication on time.

Participants in this open-label study will first complete several written tests to assess skills such as memory, attention, and problem solving. Participants will also be asked questions regarding their current symptoms and medication regimen. Participants will then be randomly assigned to receive either treatment as usual or treatment as usual and a 2-way pager for 6 months. Participants who receive a 2-way pager will attend approximately four information sessions. During these sessions, participants will learn how to program the pager and use a specially designed medication bottle cap that will record the number of bottle openings and the date and time of each opening. At designated times, the pager will vibrate or beep, alerting participants to take their medication or attend a scheduled appointment. All participants will meet weekly with a staff member for the first month and then once a month for the remaining 5 months to complete several brief questionnaires on pager use, assess medication adherence, and discuss any symptoms experienced within the past week or month. Participants will be required to bring their medication to each meeting to ensure compliance.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

55

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • New York
      • Glen Oaks, New York, United States, 11004
        • The Zucker Hillside Hospital

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years and older (ADULT, OLDER_ADULT)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Meets DSM-IV criteria for schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder
  • Admitted to the Zucker Hillside Hospital for exacerbation of illness
  • Speaks English

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Presence of severe visual or motor impairments
  • Mental retardation
  • Neurologic disorder that may impact functioning such as seizures or vascular, neoplastic, traumatic, or infectious disorders affecting the brain
  • Prescribed a psychotropic drug in depot form
  • After hospital discharge, a living or treatment situation that includes dispensing of full medication regimen

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: SUPPORTIVE_CARE
  • Allocation: RANDOMIZED
  • Interventional Model: PARALLEL
  • Masking: NONE

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
EXPERIMENTAL: A
Participants will receive treatment as usual and a 2-way pager for 6 months
Device: 2-way pager
Participants will receive messages daily to take their medication via a 2-way pager for 6 months. Once the message is received the participant will respond whether or not he/she took the medication and reason for not taking.
ACTIVE_COMPARATOR: B
Participants will receive treatment as usual
Behavioral: Treatment as usual
Participants will receive treatment as usual.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Percent of Prescribed Medication Taken as Assessed by the Medication Event Monitoring System (MEMS)
Time Frame: Measured at Month 6
Estimated percent of prescribed medication taken during month 6 of the study was calculated using all available data sources (MEMS supplemented by subject interview and pill counts).
Measured at Month 6

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Northwell Health

Collaborators

National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Delbert G. Robinson, MD, Northwell Health

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

April 1, 2006

Primary Completion (ACTUAL)

December 1, 2009

Study Completion (ACTUAL)

December 1, 2009

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

October 23, 2006

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

October 24, 2006

First Posted (ESTIMATE)

October 25, 2006

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (ACTUAL)

October 25, 2017

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 22, 2017

Last Verified

September 1, 2017

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • R34MH074844 (NIH)

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

Clinical Trials on Schizophrenia

Clinical Trials on 2-way pager

Search Similar Trials

Sponsors and Collaborators

Medical Conditions

Drug Interventions

CROs by country

CROs in Papua New Guinea

Conditions

Rare Diseases

Drug Interventions

Dietary Supplements

Sponsor/Collaborators

Locations

3
Subscribe