Systematic Review of Effects of Medication Dispenser Use by Home-Dwelling Older Adults

Background Population aging has increased the need for solutions that help older adults live independently in their own homes, where medication management is a major challenge. Objectives In this systematic review, we assessed the effects of medication dispensers among home-dwelling older adults on outcomes within the five domains of the Quintuple Aim framework: user experiences, health and well-being outcomes, health service utilization and costs, care professional experiences, and equity. Methods We identified relevant studies by searching databases (Scopus, CENTRAL, PubMed, Web of Science, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and Cochrane Reviews) from January 2017 to April 2022 with a predefined search strategy and two-person abstract and full-text screening. Two authors extracted the most relevant data and assessed quality for each included study. We assessed the evidence using a four-level quality rating measure: strong, moderate, limited, or no evidence. Results We included five original studies and three systematic reviews, which provided information on 20 additional original studies. Data were extracted from these 25 original studies. We found significant results in 16 of them, mostly pointing to the beneficial effects of dispenser devices. Significant results for health and well-being outcomes were found in 13 out of 21 studies in which these were assessed, for service utilization in two out of five studies, for costs in two out of three studies, and for patient/carer experiences in one out of five studies. No study evaluated professional experiences or equity outcomes. Overall, strong evidence of a beneficial effect of dispenser devices in any outcome is lacking, but they can improve health outcomes (moderate evidence of beneficial effects of using dispenser devices on systolic and diastolic blood pressure, and hemoglobin A1c levels). For other outcome domains, there is no or only limited evidence for beneficial effects of dispenser devices. Discussion We found that the use of dispenser devices by home-dwelling older adults can improve clinical health outcomes and may reduce health service utilization and costs. More high-quality research is needed to get a better insight into their effects on service utilization and costs. Future studies should also examine the effects on care professionals’ experiences and equity.