Table 2.

Suggested nomenclature for describing medication adherence and engagement with digital adherence technologies

Taxonomy for describing adherence to medications (from Vrijens et al 70)	Taxonomy for describing engagement with digital adherence technologies
Initiation: time point when the first dose of medication is taken	Starting: time point when engagement with technology begins (eg, first SMS text response, phone call, digital pillbox opening etc)
Dosing implementation: correspondence between patient’s actual dosing and the prescribed dosing regimen	Technology participation: correspondence between expected daily engagement with the technology and actual daily engagement
Persistence: length of time between initiation and last dose	Duration of engagement: length of time between starting and stopping of engagement with the technology
Discontinuation: time point when the patient takes her last dose	Stopping: time point when the patient has the last recorded engagement with the technology (eg, last SMS text response, phone call, digital pillbox opening etc)

SMS, short messaging service.