Randomized controlled trial of text message reminders for increasing influenza vaccination
© 2017, Annals of Family Medicine, Inc. All rights reserved. PURPOSE Seasonal influenza vaccine is recommended and funded for groups at higher risk of serious infection, but uptake is suboptimal. We conducted a randomized controlled trial of short message service (SMS) reminders for influenza vaccin...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Published: |
2017
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/61861 |
| _version_ | 1848760742733414400 |
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| author | Regan, Annette Bloomfield, L. Peters, I. Effler, P. |
| author_facet | Regan, Annette Bloomfield, L. Peters, I. Effler, P. |
| author_sort | Regan, Annette |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | © 2017, Annals of Family Medicine, Inc. All rights reserved. PURPOSE Seasonal influenza vaccine is recommended and funded for groups at higher risk of serious infection, but uptake is suboptimal. We conducted a randomized controlled trial of short message service (SMS) reminders for influenza vaccination. METHODS Six weeks after seasonal influenza vaccinations began, we identified high-risk patients who had a mobile telephone number on record at 10 practices in Western Australia. Thirty-two percent of the selected patients had already been vaccinated in the current year and were ineligible. Of the remaining 12,354 eligible patients at each practice one-half were randomly assigned to receive a vaccination reminder by SMS (intervention) and the rest received no SMS (con-trol). Approximately 3 months after the SMS was sent (the study period), vaccination data were extracted from the patients’ electronic medical records. Log-bino-mial regression models were used to calculate the relative risk (RR) of vaccination between the intervention and control group. RESULTS Twelve-percent (769 of 6,177) of the intervention group and 9% (548 of 6,177) of the control group were vaccinated during the study period, a 39% relative increase attributable to the SMS (RR = 1.39; 95% CI, 1.26-1.54). For every 29 SMSs sent, costing $3.48, 1 additional high-risk patient was immunized. The greatest effect was observed for children younger than 5 years, whose parents were more than twice as likely to have their child vaccinated if they received a SMS reminder (RR = 2.43; 95% CI, 1.79-3.29). CONCLUSION We found S MS reminders to be a modestly effective, low-cost means to increase seasonal influenza vaccine coverage among high-risk patients. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T10:20:37Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-61861 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T10:20:37Z |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-618612018-02-01T05:56:40Z Randomized controlled trial of text message reminders for increasing influenza vaccination Regan, Annette Bloomfield, L. Peters, I. Effler, P. © 2017, Annals of Family Medicine, Inc. All rights reserved. PURPOSE Seasonal influenza vaccine is recommended and funded for groups at higher risk of serious infection, but uptake is suboptimal. We conducted a randomized controlled trial of short message service (SMS) reminders for influenza vaccination. METHODS Six weeks after seasonal influenza vaccinations began, we identified high-risk patients who had a mobile telephone number on record at 10 practices in Western Australia. Thirty-two percent of the selected patients had already been vaccinated in the current year and were ineligible. Of the remaining 12,354 eligible patients at each practice one-half were randomly assigned to receive a vaccination reminder by SMS (intervention) and the rest received no SMS (con-trol). Approximately 3 months after the SMS was sent (the study period), vaccination data were extracted from the patients’ electronic medical records. Log-bino-mial regression models were used to calculate the relative risk (RR) of vaccination between the intervention and control group. RESULTS Twelve-percent (769 of 6,177) of the intervention group and 9% (548 of 6,177) of the control group were vaccinated during the study period, a 39% relative increase attributable to the SMS (RR = 1.39; 95% CI, 1.26-1.54). For every 29 SMSs sent, costing $3.48, 1 additional high-risk patient was immunized. The greatest effect was observed for children younger than 5 years, whose parents were more than twice as likely to have their child vaccinated if they received a SMS reminder (RR = 2.43; 95% CI, 1.79-3.29). CONCLUSION We found S MS reminders to be a modestly effective, low-cost means to increase seasonal influenza vaccine coverage among high-risk patients. 2017 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/61861 10.1370/afm.2120 unknown |
| spellingShingle | Regan, Annette Bloomfield, L. Peters, I. Effler, P. Randomized controlled trial of text message reminders for increasing influenza vaccination |
| title | Randomized controlled trial of text message reminders for increasing influenza vaccination |
| title_full | Randomized controlled trial of text message reminders for increasing influenza vaccination |
| title_fullStr | Randomized controlled trial of text message reminders for increasing influenza vaccination |
| title_full_unstemmed | Randomized controlled trial of text message reminders for increasing influenza vaccination |
| title_short | Randomized controlled trial of text message reminders for increasing influenza vaccination |
| title_sort | randomized controlled trial of text message reminders for increasing influenza vaccination |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/61861 |