부산대학교 도서관

• Prevalence of technology-based and traditional reminder system usage was each 50%. • No difference in the number of missed active pills between the two reminder system groups. • 75% of all participants missed less than 2 pills per pack. • 14% of traditional reminder users missed more than 2 pills per pack compared to 45% of technology reminder users (p <.05). For patients relying only on oral contraceptive pills (OCPs) for pregnancy prevention, timely and correct usage of OCPs is essential. This study describes the prevalence of reminder systems used among our patients, the patient population that uses those reminder systems, and whether the reminder system was effective for the user in terms of not missing pills per pack. We conducted a cross-sectional survey among 102 OCP users at 3 individual clinics in the UCLA Health System. To quantify OCP adherence, we used the unit pill pack to indicate one month's supply of OCPs. Majority of patients were young educated individuals who used OCPs for 1 year or longer. 44% of participants used strictly technology-based reminders including alarms, phone applications, and text-based systems. 25% of participants used only traditional reminders, including co-administration with other medications, location placement, and as part of a morning/evening routine. 6% of participants used a combination of technology-based and traditional reminders. 21% of participants did not rely on any reminder system for OCP self-administration. 4% of participants used "Other or Unknown" reminder systems. The majority of participants missed less than 2 pills in their pill pack. Those who relied on technological reminders missed pills more frequently than those who depended on traditional reminders. Our results indicate that despite growing prevalence of technology-based reminder systems, traditional reminders are as prevalent as the technology-based ones. There was no difference in the number of missed pills between the two groups. The study is limited by the use of convenience sampling. Our study sheds light on strategies that a majority young and educated patient population might use to increase OCP adherence.