Effects of Virtual Health Messages on Maternal Therapeutic Adherence for Childhood Anemia.

Abstract

Therapeutic adherence for childhood anemia is addressed in health services with unsatisfactory results. Therefore, the implementation of this strategy will favor greater adherence to treatment with ferrous sulfate. Objective: To evaluate the effect of virtual health messages on maternal therapeutic adherence for childhood anemia. Materials and Methods: A pre-experimental and longitudinal study was developed between November and December 2022, in which 24 mothers of children diagnosed with anemia participated. Adherence was determined using a test and inferential analysis through the Wilcoxon test. Results: The mothers were between 18 and 29 years old (50.0 %), of rural origin (66.7 %), who completed primary school (33.3 %), housewives (83.3 %), and cohabitants (79.2 %). In the pre-test, high adherence was observed in social factors (50 %), health personnel (75 %), illness (87.5 %), and person supplementing the ferrous sulfate and the patient (75.5 %). The overall adherence was medium in the pretest (50.0 %) and high in the post-test (100.0 %). Message reception was high for the overall test (62.6 %), reminder (79.2%), informational (79.2 %), and motivational (75.0 %) messages. Conclusion: Virtual health messages have a positive effect on maternal therapeutic adherence for childhood anemia (p < 0.05) and their inclusion in primary health services will contribute favorably to obtaining optimal results.