scholarly journals Evaluating a Personalized, Automated Caregiver Mobile Phone Delivered Text Message Reminder Intervention to Reduce Infant Vaccination Drop-out in Arua, Uganda: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial (Preprint)

10.2196/17262 ◽  
2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel C Ehlman ◽  
Joseph Magoola ◽  
Patricia Tanifum ◽  
Aaron Wallace ◽  
Prosper Behumbiize ◽  
...  
Vaccine ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 34 (21) ◽  
pp. 2437-2443 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gretchen J. Domek ◽  
Ingrid L. Contreras-Roldan ◽  
Sean T. O’Leary ◽  
Sheana Bull ◽  
Anna Furniss ◽  
...  

2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chia-Lei Lin ◽  
Nila Mistry ◽  
Jordana Boneh ◽  
Hong Li ◽  
Rina Lazebnik

Background. High no-show rates can burden clinic productivity and affect patient care. Although multiple studies have shown that text messages improve appointment adherence, very little research has focused on low-income and predominantly African American populations in resident clinic settings. Objectives. To determine whether incorporating a text message reminder reduces the no-show rate at an urban, pediatric resident clinic. Methods. A randomized controlled trial was conducted at a tertiary level ambulatory pediatric practice between August 2014 and February 2015. Following a demographic survey, 170 patients were enrolled. Patients were randomized into control or intervention groups. All patients received the standard voice message appointment reminder, but the intervention group additionally received a text message reminder. The primary outcome was no-show rate. Results. 95.3% of the participants were African American, and the overall no-show rate was 30.8%. No-show rate was significantly lower in the intervention group (23.5%) than the control group (38.1%) representing a difference of 14.6% (p=0.04). No demographic factors were found to alter the association between no-show rate and text message intervention. Conclusions. Text message reminders effectively improve show rates at a resident pediatric practice with high no-show rates, representing a promising approach to improving appointment adherence.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zeleke Abebaw Mekonnen ◽  
Kassahun Alemu Gelaye ◽  
Martin Were ◽  
Binyam Tilahun

BACKGROUND Nonattendance at vaccination appointments is a big challenge for health workers as it is difficult to track routine vaccination schedules. In Ethiopia, 3 out of 10 children have incomplete vaccination and the timely receipt of the recommended vaccines is low. Thus, innovative strategies are required to reach the last mile where mobile technology can be effectively utilized to achieve better compliance. Despite this promising technology, little is known about the role of text message–based mobile health interventions in improving the complete and timely receipt of routine childhood vaccinations in Ethiopia. OBJECTIVE This trial aimed to determine the effect of mobile phone text message reminders on the completion and timely receipt of routine childhood vaccinations in northwest Ethiopia. METHODS A two-arm, parallel, superiority randomized controlled trial was conducted in 9 health facilities in northwest Ethiopia. A sample size of 434 mother-infant pairs was considered in this trial. Randomization was applied in selected health facilities during enrollment with a 1:1 allocation ratio by using sealed and opaque envelopes. Participants assigned to the intervention group received mobile phone text message reminders one day before the scheduled vaccination visits. Owing to the nature of the intervention, blinding of participants was not possible. Primary outcomes of full and timely completion of vaccinations were measured objectively at 12 months. A two-sample test of proportion and log-binomial regression analyses were used to compare the outcomes between the study groups. A modified intention-to-treat analysis approach was applied and a one-tailed test was reported, considering the superiority design of the trial. RESULTS A total of 426 participants were included for the analysis. We found that a higher proportion of infants in the intervention group received Penta-3 (204/213, 95.8% vs 185/213, 86.9%, respectively; <i>P</i>&lt;.001), measles (195/213, 91.5% vs 169/213, 79.3%, respectively; <i>P</i>&lt;.001), and full vaccination (176/213, 82.6% vs 151/213, 70.9%, respectively; <i>P</i>=.002; risk ratio 1.17, 95% lower CI 1.07) compared to infants in the usual care group. Similarly, a higher proportion of infants in the intervention group received Penta-3 (181/204, 88.7% vs 128/185, 69.2%, respectively; <i>P</i>&lt;.001), measles (170/195, 87.1% vs 116/169, 68.6%, respectively; <i>P</i>&lt;.001), and all scheduled vaccinations (135/213, 63.3% vs 85/213, 39.9%, respectively; <i>P</i>&lt;.001; risk ratio 1.59, 95% lower CI 1.35) on time compared to infants in the usual care group. Of the automatically sent 852 mobile phone text messages, 764 (89.7%) were delivered successfully to the participants. CONCLUSIONS Mobile phone text message reminders significantly improved complete and timely receipt of all recommended vaccines. Besides, they had a significant effect in improving the timely receipt of specific vaccines. Thus, text message reminders can be used to supplement the routine immunization program in resource-limited settings. Considering different contexts, studies on the implementation challenges of mobile health interventions are recommended. CLINICALTRIAL Pan African Clinical Trial Registry PACTR201901533237287; https://pactr.samrc.ac.za/TrialDisplay.aspx?TrialID=5839


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel C Ehlman ◽  
Joseph Magoola ◽  
Patricia Tanifum ◽  
Aaron Wallace ◽  
Prosper Behumbiize ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND Globally, suboptimal vaccine coverage is a major public health concern. According to Uganda’s 2016 Demographic and Health Survey, only 49% of 12-23 month olds had received all recommended vaccinations by 12 months of age. Innovative ways are needed to increase coverage and reduce drop-out, including increasing awareness of caregivers to bring children for timely vaccination. OBJECTIVE To evaluate a personalized, automated caregiver mobile phone delivered text message reminder intervention to reduce the proportion of children who start but do not complete the vaccination series for children 12 months of age and younger in select health facilities in Arua District. METHODS A two arm, multi-center, parallel groups randomized controlled trial was conducted in four health facilities providing vaccination services in and around the town of Arua. Caregivers of children between six weeks and six months of age at the time of their first dose of pentavalent vaccine (Penta1; containing diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, hepatitis B, and Haemophilus influenzae type b antigens) were recruited and interviewed. All participants received the standard of care, defined as the health worker providing child vaccination home-based records to caregivers, as available, and providing verbal instruction of when to return for the next visit. At the end of each day, caregivers and their children were randomized by computer either to receive or not to receive personalized, automated text message reminders for their subsequent vaccination visits according to the national schedule. SMS reminders for Penta2 were sent two days before, on the day of, and two days after the scheduled vaccination visit. Reminders for Penta3 and measles-containing vaccine (MCV) were sent on the day of and five and seven days after the visit. Study personnel conducted post-intervention follow-up interviews with participants at the health facilities during the children’s MCV visit. In addition, focus group discussions were conducted to assess caregiver acceptability of the intervention; economic data was collected to evaluate the incremental costs and the cost-effectiveness of the intervention; and health facility records review forms were completed to capture service delivery process indicators. RESULTS Of 3485 screened participants, 1961 were enrolled from the sample size of 1962. Enrollment concluded in August 2016. Follow-up interviews of study participants, including data extraction from the children’s vaccination cards; data extraction from the health facility immunization registers; completion of the health facility records review forms; and focus group discussions were completed by December 2017. Results are expected to be released in 2021. CONCLUSIONS Prompting of health seeking behavior with reminders has been shown to improve health intervention uptake. Mobile phone ownership continues to grow in Uganda, so their use in vaccination interventions like this study is logical and should be evaluated with scientifically rigorous study designs. CLINICALTRIAL Clinicaltrials.gov NCT04177485; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04177485.


2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-38
Author(s):  
Erum Behroz Khan ◽  
◽  
Mairah Shah ◽  
S.M. Tariq Rafi ◽  
Sadia Rizwan ◽  
...  

OBJECTIVES: To determine the extent of improvement in oral hygiene via text message reminder in patients undergoing fixed orthodontic treatment. METHODOLOGY: The participants were from 13 to 30 years of age recruited from Department of Orthodontics, Sindh Institute of Oral Health Sciences, Jinnah Sindh Medical University, Karachi, Pakistan. The sample comprised of 70 patients (59 female and 11 male) about to have fixed orthodontic treatment, 35 in text message group and 35 in control group. Patient's plaque index was evaluated at baseline and after 30 days. RESULTS: Text message group had highly significant (P < .05) plaque index score (PostPI) than control group. CONCLUSIONS: Orthodontic patients frequently reminded to brush have better oral hygiene. KEYWORDS: Plaque index, Text message, Oral hygiene, Orthodontics. HOW TO CITE: Khan EB, Shah M, Rafi S.M.T, Rizwan S, Ahmed Z, Fatima S. Oral hygiene maintenance via teledentistry in orthodontic patients: A randomized controlled trial. J Pak Dent Assoc 2021;30(1):34-38.


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