Text messaging reminders to reduce non-attendance in chronic disease follow-up: a clinical trial

Liew, Su May; Tong, Seng Fah; Lee, Verna Kar Mun; Ng, Chirk Jenn; Leong, Kwok Chi; Teng, Cheong Lieng

doi:10.3399/bjgp09x472250

Cited by 109 publications

(96 citation statements)

References 18 publications

(24 reference statements)

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“…In a Malaysian RCT 73 comparing the effectiveness of text messaging reminder (n = 308), telephone reminder (n = 314) and control (no reminder) (n = 309) in increasing appointment attendance in patients with chronic diseases requiring long-term follow-up, the absolute non-attendance rate for telephone reminders (13.7%) was 2% lower than with the text messaging group (15.6%). This study is limited in two regards.…”

Section: Findings From Other Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Two additional RCTs 66,73 investigated the differences between personal and automated reminders, but neither found any difference between the direct contact reminder and the automated reminder. In a Malaysian RCT 73 comparing the effectiveness of text messaging reminder (n = 308), telephone reminder (n = 314) and control (no reminder) (n = 309) in increasing appointment attendance in patients with chronic diseases requiring long-term follow-up, the absolute non-attendance rate for telephone reminders (13.7%) was 2% lower than with the text messaging group (15.6%).…”

Section: Findings From Other Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…SMS or telephone reminders are typically sent either the day before or on the day of the health-care appointment. 64,70,71,73,76,78,84,89,100,108 Reminders of this nature appear to be sent to benefit those patients who have genuinely forgotten about their appointment [see Chapter 4, Evidence statement (A.1): there is strong consistent evidence that simple reminders which provide details of timing and location of appointments are effective at helping a (forgetful) patient to attend their appointment (evidence category Ia)]. For this reason, the reminder is not sent too far in advance as this may allow that patient to forget again.…”

Section: Timing Of the Remindermentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Targeting the Use of Reminders and Notifications for Uptake by Populations (TURNUP): a systematic review and evidence synthesis

McLean

Gee

Booth

et al. 2014

Health Services and Delivery Research

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BackgroundMissed appointments are an avoidable cost and a resource inefficiency that impact on the health of the patient and treatment outcomes. Health-care services are increasingly utilising reminder systems to counter these negative effects.ObjectivesThis project explores the differential effect of reminder systems for different segments of the population for improving attendance, cancellation and rescheduling of appointments.DesignThree inter-related reviews of quantitative and qualitative evidence relating to theoretical explanations for appointment behaviour (review 1), the effectiveness of different approaches to reminding patients to attend health service appointments (review 2) and factors likely to influence non-attendance (review 3).Data sourcesDatabase searches were conducted on Allied and Complementary Medicine, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature Plus with Full Text, The Cochrane Library, EMBASE (via NHS Evidence from 1 January 2000 to January/February 2012), Health Management Information Consortium database, Institute of Electrical and Electronics EngineersXplore, The King’s Fund Library Catalogue, Maternity and Infant Care, MEDLINE, Physiotherapy Evidence Database, PsycINFO, SPORTDiscus and Web of Science from 1 January 2000 to January/February 2012. Supplementary screening of references of included studies was conducted to identify additional potentially relevant studies. Conceptual papers were identified for review 1, randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and systematic reviews for review 2 and a range of quantitative and qualitative research designs for review 3.MethodsWe conducted three inter-related reviews of quantitative and qualitative evidence, involving a review of conceptual frameworks of reminder systems and adherence behaviours, a review of the reminder effectiveness literature and a review informed by realist principles to explain the contexts and mechanisms that explain reminder effectiveness. A preliminary conceptual framework was developed to show how reminder systems work, for whom they work and in which circumstances. Six themes emerged that potentially influence the effectiveness of the reminder or whether or not patients would attend their appointment, namely the reminder–patient interaction, reminder accessibility, health-care settings, wider social issues, cancellation and rebookings, and distal/proxy attributes. Standardised review methods were used to investigate the effectiveness of reminders to promote attendance, cancellation or rebooking across all outpatient settings. Finally, a review informed by realist principles was undertaken, using the conceptual framework to explain the context and mechanisms that influence how reminders support attendance, cancellation and rebooking.ResultsA total of 466 papers relating to 463 studies were identified for reviews 2 and 3. Findings from 31 RCTs and 11 separate systematic reviews (review 2 only) revealed that reminder systems are consistently effective at reducing non-attendance at appointments, regardless of health-care setting or patient subgroups. Simple reminders that provide details of timing and location of appointments are effective for increasing attendance at appointments. Reminders that provide additional information over and above the date, time and location of the appointment (‘reminder plus’) may be more effective than simple reminders at reducing non-attendance and may be particularly useful for first appointments and screening appointments; simple reminders may be appropriate thereafter for most patients the majority of the time. There was strong evidence that the timing of reminders, between 1 and 7 days prior to the appointment, has no effect on attendance; substantial numbers of patients do not receive their reminder; reminders promote cancellation of appointments; inadequate structural factors prevent patients from cancelling appointments; and few studies investigated factors that influence the effectiveness of reminder systems for population subgroups.LimitationsGenerally speaking, the systematic review method seeks to provide a precise answer to a tightly focused question, for which there is a high degree of homogeneity within the studies. A wide range of population types, intervention, comparison and outcomes is included within the RCTs we identified. However, use of this wider approach offers greater analytical capability in terms of understanding contextual and mechanistic factors that would not have been evident in a more narrowly focused review and increases confidence that the findings will have relevance in a wide range of service settings.ConclusionsSimple reminders or ‘reminder plus’ should be sent to all patients in the absence of any clear contraindication. Other reminder alternatives may be relevant for key groups of patients: those from a deprived background, ethnic minorities, substance abusers and those with comorbidities and/or illnesses. We are developing a practice guideline that may help managers to further tailor their reminder systems for their service and client groups. We recommend future research activities in three main areas. First, more studies should routinely consider the potential for differential effects of reminder systems between patient groups in order to identify any inequalities and remedies. Second, ‘reminder plus’ systems appear promising, but there is a need for further research to understand how they influence attendance behaviour. Third, further research is required to identify strategies to ‘optimise’ reminder systems and compare performance with current approaches.FundingThe National Institute for Health Research Health Services and Delivery Research programme.

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Section: Findings From Other Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Findings From Other Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Timing Of the Remindermentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Targeting the Use of Reminders and Notifications for Uptake by Populations (TURNUP): a systematic review and evidence synthesis

McLean

Gee

Booth

et al. 2014

Health Services and Delivery Research

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“…9 In a recent randomized trial, both text-message reminders and live telephone calls improved attendance rates for chronic disease follow-up among patients in Malaysia, with no statistically significant differences in impact between the two communication methods. 49 In Kenya, text messages to health workers significantly improved their adherence to guidelines for malaria treatment. 50 Studies on the effectiveness of SMS messages for health promotion have also shown improvements in the outcomes of care.…”

Section: Impact On Outcomes and Healthcare Costsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impacts of e-health on the outcomes of care in low- and middle-income countries: where do we go from here?

Piette

Lun

Moura³

et al. 2012

Bull World Health Org

159

138

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“…Three studies demonstrated improvements in clinic attendance with text messaging reminders versus no reminder. In three studies, [38][39][40] studied the effectiveness of an Internet-based diabetes education program with SMS and e-mail reminders and found that only 77 (39%) of the treatment arm logged-on to the online education program, and of these subjects, 34 (44%) logged-on once, 12 (16%) logged-on twice, and 31 (40%) logged-on more than three times. When subjects were asked about the number of times they logged-on, 22 (14%) stated that they had used the Web site when in fact a log-in was not recorded.…”

Section: Process Of Carementioning

confidence: 99%

The Impact of Mobile Health Interventions on Chronic Disease Outcomes in Developing Countries: A Systematic Review

Beratarrechea¹,

Lee

Willner

et al. 2014

Telemedicine and e-Health

343

268

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Introduction: Rates of chronic diseases will continue to rise in developing countries unless effective and cost-effective interventions are implemented. This review aims to discuss the impact of mobile health (m-health) on chronic disease outcomes in low-and middleincome countries (LMIC). Materials and Methods: Systematic literature searches were performed using CENTRAL, MEDLINE, EMBASE, and LILACS databases and gray literature. Scientific literature was searched to identify controlled studies evaluating cell phone voice and text message interventions to address chronic diseases in adults in low-or middle-income countries. Outcomes measured included morbidity, mortality, hospitalization rates, behavioral or lifestyle changes, process of care improvements, clinical outcomes, costs, patient-provider satisfaction, compliance, and health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Results: From the 1,709 abstracts retrieved, 163 articles were selected for full text review, including 9 randomized controlled trials with 4,604 participants. Most of the studies addressed more than one outcome. Of the articles selected, six studied clinical outcomes, six studied processes of care, three examined healthcare costs, and two examined HRQoL. M-health positively impacted on chronic disease outcomes, improving attendance rates, clinical outcomes, and HRQoL, and was cost-effective. Conclusions: M-health is emerging as a promising tool to address access, coverage, and equity gaps in developing countries and low-resource settings. The results for mhealth interventions showed a positive impact on chronic diseases in LMIC. However, a limiting factor of this review was the relatively small number of studies and patients enrolled, highlighting the need for more rigorous research in this area in developing countries.

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Text messaging reminders to reduce non-attendance in chronic disease follow-up: a clinical trial

Cited by 109 publications

References 18 publications

Targeting the Use of Reminders and Notifications for Uptake by Populations (TURNUP): a systematic review and evidence synthesis

Targeting the Use of Reminders and Notifications for Uptake by Populations (TURNUP): a systematic review and evidence synthesis

Impacts of e-health on the outcomes of care in low- and middle-income countries: where do we go from here?

The Impact of Mobile Health Interventions on Chronic Disease Outcomes in Developing Countries: A Systematic Review

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