Trial reportAIDS (London, England)2016
The Meanings in the messages: how SMS reminders and real-time adherence monitoring improve antiretroviral therapy adherence in rural Uganda.
Trial report in AIDS (London, England), 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 55 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
55 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 93 citations in OpenAlex.
- Intervention strategies to improve adherence to treatment for selected chronic conditions in sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review.Journal of the International AIDS Society · 2024Pooled it
- Randomized Pilot Trial of the Text-Based Adherence Game for Ghanaian Youth with HIV.AIDS and behavior · 2025Trial
- Trial
- Real-time Feedback to Improve HIV Treatment Adherence in Pregnant and Postpartum Women in Uganda: A Randomized Controlled Trial.AIDS and behavior · 2022Trial
- Effect of a Reminder System on Pre-exposure Prophylaxis Adherence in Men Who Have Sex With Men: Prospective Cohort Study Based on WeChat Intervention.Journal of medical Internet research · 2022Trial
- SMS messaging to improve retention and viral suppression in prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission (PMTCT) programs in Kenya: A 3-arm randomized clinical trial.PLoS medicine · 2021Trial
- Effect of SMS reminders on PrEP adherence in young Kenyan women (MPYA study): a randomised controlled trial.The lancet. HIV · 2021Trial
- Retention in HIV Care Among HIV-Seropositive Pregnant and Postpartum Women in Uganda: Results of a Randomized Controlled Trial.AIDS and behavior · 2020Trial
- Use of an android phone application for automated text messages in international settings: A case study in an HIV clinical trial in St. Petersburg, Russia.Clinical trials (London, England) · 2018Trial
- Feasibility and Acceptability of a Task-Shifted Intervention to Enhance Adherence to HIV Medication and Improve Depression in People Living with HIV in Zimbabwe, a Low Income Country in Sub-Saharan Africa.AIDS and behavior · 2018Trial
- Text Messaging for Improving Antiretroviral Therapy Adherence: No Effects After 1 Year in a Randomized Controlled Trial Among Adolescents and Young Adults.American journal of public health · 2017Trial
- Randomized Factorial Trial of Phone-Delivered Support Counseling and Daily Text Message Reminders for HIV Treatment Adherence.Journal of acquired immune deficiency syndromes (1999) · 2016Trial
- Short message service (SMS) reminders and real-time adherence monitoring improve antiretroviral therapy adherence in rural Uganda.AIDS (London, England) · 2016Trial
- Effectiveness of Short Message Service Reminders on Timely Pick-up of Antiretroviral Therapy Among Consenting Persons with HIV in Zambézia Province, Mozambique.AIDS research and human retroviruses · 2026Article
- Effect of SMS Reminders, Telephone Calls, and Transport Incentives on Enhancing the Completion of Tuberculosis Diagnosis and Initiation of Treatment for Diagnosed Patients: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial.JMIR research protocols · 2025Article
- Real-time digital intervention on oral pre-exposure prophylaxis adherence among MSM: randomized controlled trial.NPJ digital medicine · 2025Article
- Contextual factors influencing implementation of tuberculosis digital adherence technologies: a scoping review guided by the RE-AIM framework.BMJ global health · 2025Article
- How Mobile Health Can Change the Contexts of Living With HIV and Engaging With Treatment and Care in Iran: A Realist-Informed Qualitative Study.Qualitative health research · 2025Article
- Attitudes toward digital pill systems for antiretroviral therapy adherence among pregnant and postpartum women living with HIV in South Africa: a qualitative study.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2025Article
- Digital Adherence Technologies Linked to Mobile Money Incentives for Medication Adherence Among People Living With Tuberculosis: Mixed Methods Feasibility and Acceptability Study.JMIR human factors · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveTo understand how a pilot intervention combining SMS reminders with real-time adherence monitoring improved adherence to HIV antiretroviral therapy (ART) for adults initiating treatment in rural Uganda.
designQualitative study, conducted with a pilot randomized controlled trial.
methodsSixty-two pilot intervention study participants took part in qualitative interviews on: preferences for content; frequency and timing of SMS adherence reminders; understandings and experiences of SMS reminders; and understandings and experiences of real-time adherence monitoring. Analysis of interview data was inductive and derived categories describing how participants experienced the intervention, and what it meant to them.
resultsSMS reminders prompted taking individual doses of antiretroviral therapy, and helped to develop a 'habit' of adherence. Real-time adherence monitoring was experienced as 'being seen'; participants interpreted 'being seen' as an opportunity to demonstrate seriousness of commitment to treatment and 'taking responsibility' for adherence. Both SMS reminders and real-time monitoring were interpreted as signs of 'caring' by the healthcare system. Feeling 'cared about' offset depressed mood and invigorated adherence.
conclusionAlthough serving as reminders, SMS messages and real-time adherence monitoring also had larger emotional and moral meanings for participants that they felt improved their adherence. Understanding the larger 'meanings in the messages,' as well as their more literal content and function, will be central in delineating how SMS reminders and other adherence interventions using cellular technology work or do not work in varying contexts.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.