SynthesisBehaviour research and therapy2018
A systematic review of the inclusion of mechanisms of action in NIH-funded intervention trials to improve medication adherence.
Synthesis in Behaviour research and therapy, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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.
The trial behind it
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
16 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Mindfulness-based interventions for medication adherence: A systematic review and narrative synthesis.Journal of psychosomatic research · 2021Pooled it
- A randomized controlled trial in schools aimed at exploring mechanisms of change of a multifaceted implementation strategy for promoting mental health at the workplace.Implementation science : IS · 2022Trial
- Review
- Overcoming Psychological Barriers to Treatment Adherence: The Case of Antihypertensive Medication.Cardiology clinics · 2026Review
- Measuring processes of change in behavioural interventions: Insights gained from linking mechanisms of action to associated measures.British journal of health psychology · 2025Article
- Article
- Psychological and behavioral dimensions in cardiac arrest survivors and their families: A state-of-the-art review.Neurotherapeutics : the journal of the American Society for Experimental NeuroTherapeutics · 2025Review
- On the importance of identifying mechanisms and active ingredients of psychological treatments.Behaviour research and therapy · 2023Article
- Article
- Improving the Rigor of Mechanistic Behavioral Science: The Introduction of the Checklist for Investigating Mechanisms in Behavior-Change Research (CLIMBR).Behavior therapy · 2023Article
- Psychological Distress After Sudden Cardiac Arrest and Its Impact on Recovery.Current cardiology reports · 2022Review
- The Role of Alcohol-Related Behavioral Risk in the Design of HIV Prevention Interventions in the Era of Antiretrovirals: Alcohol Challenge Studies and Research Agenda.AIDS and behavior · 2021Article
- Intervening on fear after acute cardiac events: Rationale and design of the INFORM randomized clinical trial.Health psychology : official journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association · 2020Article
- Effectiveness of interventions targeting self-regulation to improve adherence to chronic disease medications: a meta-review of meta-analyses.Health psychology review · 2020Article
- Enhancing the Impact of Implementation Strategies in Healthcare: A Research Agenda.Frontiers in public health · 2019Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Medication nonadherence contributes to morbidity/mortality, but adherence interventions yield small and inconsistent effects. Understanding the mechanisms underlying initiation and maintenance of adherence could improve interventions. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) support adherence research, but it is unclear whether existing NIH-funded research incorporates mechanisms. We conducted a systematic review to determine the proportion of NIH-funded adherence trials that have tested hypothesized mechanisms of intervention effects. We included randomized and quasi-randomized NIH-funded trials with medication adherence in adults as the primary outcome. Studies were identified by searching electronic databases from inception to 6/2016, references, and clinicaltrials.gov. Two of 18 (11%) NIH-funded trials tested a hypothesized mechanism of an intervention's effect on medication adherence. Another 44 studies with medication adherence as a secondary outcome were described in protocol form, and are either ongoing or never published results, but none mentioned mechanism tests. Overall, 3% of NIH-funded trials with adherence as an outcome conducted, or plan to conduct, tests of behavior change mechanisms. These results mirror previous findings that very few studies of behavior change interventions actually test the mechanism by which the intervention is hypothesized to improve health behaviors. We must understand mechanisms if we are to improve the effectiveness of interventions.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.