The Effectiveness of SMS Reminders on Appointment Attendance: a Meta-Analysis

Abstract

To identify the efficacy of short message service (SMS) reminders in health care appointment attendance. A systematic review was undertaken to identify studies published between 2005 and 2015 that compared the attendance rates of patients receiving SMS reminders compared to patients not receiving a reminder. Each article was examined for information regarding the study design, sample size, population demographics and intervention methods. A meta-analysis was used to calculate a pooled estimate odds ratio. Twenty-eight (28) studies were included in the review, including 13 (46 %) randomized controlled trials. The pooled odds ratio of the randomized control trials was 1.62 (1.35-1.94). Half of the studies reviewed sent the reminder within 48 h prior to the appointment time, yet no significant subgroups differences with respect to participant age, SMS timing, rate or type, setting or specialty was detectable. All studies, except one with a small sample size, demonstrated a positive OR, indicating SMS reminders were an effective means of improving appointment attendance. There was no significant difference in OR when controlling for when the SMS was sent, the frequency of the reminders or the content of the reminder. SMS appointment reminders are an effective and operative method in improving appointment attendance in a health care setting and this effectiveness has improved over the past 5 years. Further research is required to identify the optimal SMS reminder timing and frequency, specifically in relation to the length of time since the appointment.

Effectiveness of text messages, calls and e-mail on adherence to medical appointments. Review of systematic reviews and meta-analysis

“…Likewise, when analyzing studies by age groups, relative risk values do not show any important differences, it's highest value shows an improvement of appointment adherence 1,11 times higher compared to not sending SMS messages in the younger group and 1,1 times higher in the 50 -63-year-old group. This data is consistent with the numbers reported by Boksmati et al (16) who didn't find significant differences among age groups, message sending times or specific medical specialties.…”

Appointment reminders by text message in a safety net health care system: a pragmatic investigation

“…[6][7] Despite common employment, large-scale implementation studies are lacking, and little data are available on operating costs and unintended consequences. While up-front health care system integration costs between a scheduling system and text messaging platform (for delivery and receipt) are substantial , ongoing operating costs were small, building a case for utilizing this technology to lessen operational inefficiencies by improving clinic attendance.…”

“…Previous SMS reminder studies have shown improved attendance rates. 2,[6][7] The current study is unique in its size, duration, setting (i.e., a United States integrated safety net health care system), and inclusion of operating costs and unintended consequences. 6 Cell phone technology is both widely available and frequently used for health purposes: 85 percent of adults in the United States (US) own a cell phone, of whom 31 percent use their phones to obtain health information -a near 100 percent increase in two years.…”

Better Ask Than Tell: Responses to mHealth Interrogative Reminders and Associations With Colorectal Cancer Screening Subsequent Uptake in a Prospective Cohort Intervention (Preprint)

“…Since that time, textmessaging diffused from a personal means of communication among friends and colleagues to a tool used by organizations to contact and inform target audiences [6,7]. SMS has been used (as pre-or post-notification reminders) to improve response rates to mailed questionnaires; [8] In health, SMS has been used to enhance appointment attendance [9,10]; post-treatment risk reduction [11]; medication adherence [12], and to promote self-management and risk reduction among patients with cardiovascular, and coronary heart disease [13,14]. Reviews of these studies indicate SMS interventions are a robust means for effectively targeting health behavior change; effects have been small-tomoderate [12,15].…”