Text-message reminders increase uptake of routine breast screening appointments: a randomised controlled trial in a hard-to-reach population.

ABSTRACT:

Background

There is a need for interventions to promote uptake of breast screening throughout Europe.

Methods

We performed a single-blind randomised controlled trial to test whether text-message reminders were effective. Two thousand two hundred and forty women receiving their first breast screening invitation were included in the study and randomly assigned in a 1 : 1 ratio to receive either a normal invitation only (n=1118) or a normal invitation plus a text-message reminder 48 h before their appointment (n=1122).

Findings

In the intention-to-treat analysis, uptake of breast screening was 59.1% among women in the normal invitation group and 64.4% in the text-message reminder group (χ(2)=6.47, odds ratio (OR): 1.26, 95% confidence intervals (CI): 1.05-1.48, P=0.01).

SUBMITTER: Kerrison RS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4366892 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature