scholarly journals Text Message Reminders and Unconditional Monetary Incentives to Improve Measles Vaccination in Western Kenya: Study Protocol for the Mobile and Scalable Innovations for Measles Immunization Randomized Controlled Trial (Preprint)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dustin G Gibson ◽  
E Wangeci Kagucia ◽  
Joyce Were ◽  
David Obor ◽  
Kyla Hayford ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Randomized Controlled Trial ◽  
Mobile Phone ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
Text Message ◽  
Immunization Coverage ◽  
Western Kenya ◽  
Mobile Money ◽  
Randomized Controlled ◽  
Sms Reminders ◽  
Measles Vaccination

BACKGROUND Globally, 21 million children do not receive the measles vaccine each year. With high levels of mobile phone access and ownership, opportunities exist to leverage mobile health technologies to generate demand for immunization. OBJECTIVE The aim of the Mobile and Scalable Innovations for Measles Immunization trial is to determine if text message (short message service, SMS) reminders, either with or without mobile phone–based incentives, can improve measles immunization coverage and timeliness in rural western Kenya. METHODS This is a 3-arm, parallel, randomized controlled trial (RCT). Using simple randomization, caregivers in Siaya County, Kenya, will be randomized and evenly allocated to 1 of 3 study arms: (1) control, (2) SMS reminders only, and (3) SMS reminders plus a 150 Kenyan Shilling (KES) incentive. Participants assigned to the SMS group will be sent SMS reminders 3 days before and on the day before the measles immunization visit scheduled for when the child is 9 months of age. Participants in the incentive arm will, in addition to SMS reminders as above, be sent an unconditional 150 KES mobile-money incentive to their mobile phone 3 days before the child becomes 9 months of age. Children will be followed up to the age of 12 months to assess the primary outcome, a measles vaccination by 10 months of age. Log-binomial regressions will be used to calculate relative risks. RESULTS Enrollment was completed in March 2017. We enrolled 537 caregivers and their infants into the following groups: control (n=179), SMS reminders only (n=179), and SMS reminders plus 150 KES (n=179). Results will be made publicly available in 2020. CONCLUSIONS Few RCTs have examined the effect of text message reminders to improve measles immunization coverage. This is the first study to assess the effect of SMS reminders with and without unconditionally provided mobile-money incentives to improve measles immunization coverage. CLINICALTRIAL ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02904642; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02904642 (Archived by WebCite® at http://www.webcitation.org/78r7AzD2X). INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPOR RR1-10.2196/13221

scholarly journals Effect of Mobile Phone Text Message Reminders on the Completion and Timely Receipt of Routine Childhood Vaccinations: Superiority Randomized Controlled Trial in Northwest Ethiopia (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zeleke Abebaw Mekonnen ◽  
Kassahun Alemu Gelaye ◽  
Martin Were ◽  
Binyam Tilahun
Keyword(s):  
Randomized Controlled Trial ◽  
Mobile Phone ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
Intervention Group ◽  
Text Message ◽  
Northwest Ethiopia ◽  
Health Interventions ◽  
Care Group ◽  
Randomized Controlled ◽  
Routine Childhood

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

scholarly journals Effect of Mobile Phone Text Message Reminders on Routine Immunization Uptake in Pakistan: Randomized Controlled Trial (Preprint)

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdul Momin Kazi ◽  
Murtaza Ali ◽  
Khurram Zubair ◽  
Hussain Kalimuddin ◽  
Abdul Nafey Kazi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Randomized Controlled Trial ◽  
Mobile Phone ◽  
Standard Care ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
Text Messages ◽  
Vaccine Uptake ◽  
Routine Immunization ◽  
Randomized Controlled ◽  
Sms Reminder ◽  
Sms Reminders

BACKGROUND Improved routine immunization (RI) coverage is recommended as the priority public health strategy to decrease vaccine-preventable diseases and eradicate polio in Pakistan and worldwide. OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to ascertain whether customized, automated, one-way text messaging (short message service, SMS) reminders delivered to caregivers via mobile phones when a child is due for an RI visit can improve vaccination uptake and timelines in Pakistan. METHODS This was a randomized controlled trial, conducted in an urban squatter settlement area of Karachi, Pakistan. Infants less than 2 weeks of age with at least one family member who had a valid mobile phone connection and was comfortable receiving and reading SMS text messages were included. Participants were randomized to the intervention (standard care + one-way SMS reminder) or control (standard care) groups. The primary outcome was to compare the proportion of children immunized up to date at 18 weeks of age. Vaccine given at 6, 10, and 14 weeks schedule includes DPT-Hep-B-Hib vaccine (ie, diphtheria, pertussis, and tetanus; hepatitis B; and Haemophilus influenza type b) and oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV). Data were analyzed using chi-square tests of independence and tested for both per protocol (PP) and intention-to-treat (ITT) analyses. RESULTS Out of those approached, 84.3% (300/356) of the participants were eligible for enrollment and 94.1% (318/338) of the participants had a working mobile phone. Only children in the PP analyses, who received an SMS reminder for vaccine uptake at 6 weeks visit, showed a statistically significant difference (96.0%, 86/90 vs 86.4%, 102/118; P=.03).The immunization coverage was consistently higher in the intervention group according to ITT analyses at the 6 weeks scheduled visit (76.0% vs 71.3%, P=.36). The 10 weeks scheduled visit (58.7% vs 52.7%, P=.30) and the 14 weeks scheduled visit (31.3% vs 26.0%, P=.31), however, were not statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS Automated simple one-way SMS reminders in local languages might be feasible for improving routine vaccination coverage. Whether one-way SMS reminders alone can have a strong impact on parental attitudes and behavior for improvement of RI coverage and timeliness needs to be further evaluated by better-powered studies and by comparing different types and content of text messages in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs). CLINICALTRIAL ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01859546; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01859546 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6xFr57AOc)

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document