Improving Medication Adherence Through SMS (Short Messaging Service) in Adult Stroke Patients: a Randomised Controlled Behaviour Intervention Trial

The impact of medications used for secondary stroke prevention relies heavily upon patient adherence. Adherence is defined as "the extent to which a person's behavior - taking medication, following a diet, and/or executing lifestyle changes, corresponds with agreed recommendations from a health care provider." It is said that optimal adherence to medications may reduce the risk of a poor outcome by 26%. The purpose of this study which is a non-pharmacologic behavioral study is to encourage adherence to medications in stroke survivors by tailored and specific SMS reminders. (Short Text Messages). These SMS reminders will support and assist stroke patients to take medications as prescribed and on time. We hypothesise that SMS will improve the adherence of patients to stroke medications by 2 points on the Morisky Medication Adherence Scale.