Using interactive voice response to improve disease management and compliance with acute coronary syndrome best practice guidelines: A randomized controlled trial.
BACKGROUND
There is evidence from large clinical trials that compliance with standardized best practice guidelines (BPGs) improves survival of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) patients. However, their application is often suboptimal.


OBJECTIVE
In this study, the researchers evaluated whether the use of an interactive voice response (IVR) follow-up system improved ACS BPG compliance.


METHODS
This was a single-centre randomized control trial (RCT) of 1,608 patients (IVR=803; usual care=805). The IVR group received five automated calls in 12 months. The primary composite outcome was increased medication compliance and decreased adverse events.


RESULTS
A significant improvement of 60% in the IVR group for the primary composite outcome was found (RR 1.60, 95% CI: 1.29 to 2.00, p <0.001). There was significant improvement in medication compliance (p <0.001) and decrease in unplanned medical visits (p = 0.023). At one year, the majority of patients ( 85%) responded positively to using the system again. Follow-up by IVR produced positive outcomes in ACS patients.
Heather
H
Sherrard
Lloyd
L
Duchesne
George
G
Wells
Sharon Ann
SA
Kearns
Christine
C
Struthers
D054058:Acute Coronary Syndrome / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000451:nursing*; D000359:Aftercare / Q000379:methods*; D000368:Aged; D001331:Automation; D002170:Canada / Q000453:epidemiology; D064646:Cardiovascular Nursing / Q000458:organization & administration*; D003142:Communication; D019468:Disease Management; D005260:Female; D019983:Guideline Adherence; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D055118:Medication Adherence; D008875:Middle Aged; D010349:Patient Compliance; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D055817:Telenursing / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D013689:Telephone; D014584:User-Computer Interface; D014831:Voice