BACKGROUND: Non-attendance is common in primary care and previous studies have reported that reminders were useful in reducing broken appointments. OBJECTIVE: To determine the effectiveness of a text messaging reminder in improving attendance in primary care. DESIGN: Multicentre three-arm randomized controlled trial. SETTING:Seven primary care clinics in Malaysia. Participants. Patients (or their caregivers) who required follow-up at the clinics between 48 hours and 3 months from the recruitment date. Interventions. Two intervention arms consisted of text messaging and mobile phone reminders 24-48 hours prior to scheduled appointments. Control group did not receive any intervention. Outcome measures. Attendance rates and costs of interventions. RESULTS: A total of 993 participants were eligible for analysis. Attendance rates of control, text messaging and mobile phone reminder groups were 48.1, 59.0 and 59.6%, respectively. The attendance rate of the text messaging reminder group was significantly higher compared with that of the control group (odds ratio 1.59, 95% confidence interval 1.17 to 2.17, P = 0.005). There was no statistically significant difference in attendance rates between text messaging and mobile phone reminder groups. The cost of text messaging reminder (RM 0.45 per attendance) was lower than mobile phone reminder (RM 0.82 per attendance). CONCLUSIONS:Text messaging reminder system was effective in improving attendance rate in primary care. It was more cost-effective compared with the mobile phone reminder.
RCT Entities:
BACKGROUND: Non-attendance is common in primary care and previous studies have reported that reminders were useful in reducing broken appointments. OBJECTIVE: To determine the effectiveness of a text messaging reminder in improving attendance in primary care. DESIGN: Multicentre three-arm randomized controlled trial. SETTING: Seven primary care clinics in Malaysia. Participants. Patients (or their caregivers) who required follow-up at the clinics between 48 hours and 3 months from the recruitment date. Interventions. Two intervention arms consisted of text messaging and mobile phone reminders 24-48 hours prior to scheduled appointments. Control group did not receive any intervention. Outcome measures. Attendance rates and costs of interventions. RESULTS: A total of 993 participants were eligible for analysis. Attendance rates of control, text messaging and mobile phone reminder groups were 48.1, 59.0 and 59.6%, respectively. The attendance rate of the text messaging reminder group was significantly higher compared with that of the control group (odds ratio 1.59, 95% confidence interval 1.17 to 2.17, P = 0.005). There was no statistically significant difference in attendance rates between text messaging and mobile phone reminder groups. The cost of text messaging reminder (RM 0.45 per attendance) was lower than mobile phone reminder (RM 0.82 per attendance). CONCLUSIONS: Text messaging reminder system was effective in improving attendance rate in primary care. It was more cost-effective compared with the mobile phone reminder.
Authors: Zeshan A Rajput; Samuel Mbugua; David Amadi; Viola Chepngeno; Jason J Saleem; Yaw Anokwa; Carl Hartung; Gaetano Borriello; Burke W Mamlin; Samson K Ndege; Martin C Were Journal: J Am Med Inform Assoc Date: 2012-02-24 Impact factor: 4.497
Authors: Antonia F H Smelt; Gerda M van der Weele; Jeanet W Blom; Jacobijn Gussekloo; Willem J J Assendelft Journal: Br J Gen Pract Date: 2010-07 Impact factor: 5.386
Authors: Andrea Beratarrechea; Allison G Lee; Jonathan M Willner; Eiman Jahangir; Agustín Ciapponi; Adolfo Rubinstein Journal: Telemed J E Health Date: 2013-11-08 Impact factor: 3.536
Authors: Robyn Whittaker; Ralph Maddison; Hayden McRobbie; Chris Bullen; Simon Denny; Enid Dorey; Mary Ellis-Pegler; Jaco van Rooyen; Anthony Rodgers Journal: J Med Internet Res Date: 2008-11-25 Impact factor: 5.428