UNASSIGNED: This study examined the effect of introducing a mobile phone reminder intervention delivered by volunteering health staff to reduce dropout from an outpatient mental health service for older people in Nigeria.
UNASSIGNED: 405 patients were studied using a quasi-experimental design: 169 who attended clinic pre-intervention (2016-2017) and 236 who attended during intervention (2018-2019). We estimated annual dropout rates, reasons for dropout and predictors of drop-out.
UNASSIGNED: We found a trend for decreasing dropout rates during intervention (p<0.001). The most common reasons for dropout were distance to the clinic (19.5%) and unavailability of a caregiver (47.6%). Current single status (O.R =2.02, 95% C. I=1.02-3.99) and treatment without adjunctive pharmacotherapy (O. R=2.14, 95% CI; 1.07-4.26) predicted dropout.
UNASSIGNED: Mobile phone call reminders improved treatment engagement in this population. Findings are important for policy to improve access to mental healthcare in Africa.
这项研究调查了在尼日利亚引入由志愿医务人员提供的手机提醒干预措施,以减少老年人门诊心理健康服务的辍学。
■使用准实验设计对405名患者进行了研究:169名患者参加了临床干预前(2016-2017年),236名患者参加了干预期间(2018-2019年)。我们估计了每年的辍学率,辍学的原因和辍学的预测因素。
■我们发现干预期间的辍学率呈下降趋势(p<0.001)。最常见的原因是离诊所很远(19.5%)和没有护理人员(47.6%)。当前单一状态(O.R=2.02,95%C.I=1.02-3.99)和无辅助药物治疗的治疗(O。R=2.14,95%CI;1.07-4.26)预测脱落。
■移动电话提醒改善了该人群的治疗参与度。研究结果对于改善非洲获得精神保健的政策很重要。