Using Mobile Phone Short Message Service (SMS) Reminders to Enhance Appointment Attendance in DM Patients

Using Mobile Phone Short Message Service (SMS) Reminders to Enhance Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Appointment Attendance in a Primary Care Clinic

A randomized controlled trial of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus with multiple appointments into short message service group and control group. The attendance rate of these two groups of patients will be compared.

Study Overview

• Status: Unknown
• Conditions: Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2; Appointments and Schedules
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Mobile phone text message reminder

Detailed Description

The main objective of this study is to evaluate the appointment attendance rate using SMS reminder of nurses and allied health appointments for diabetic patients, when compared to conventional telephone reminder and no reminder. We also aim at determine the factors associated with appointment attendance. Finally, we will also survey patients' acceptance and satisfaction to the SMS service.

This is a single blind randomization study. It will be carried out in Ha Kwai Chung General Outpatient Clinic.

The primary outcome of this study is to evaluate the attendance rate of each individual doctor, nurses and allied health clinic appointments for diabetic patients, as well as their overall attendance rates:

1. Diabetes Complication Screening Clinic (OPAS DMCS/RDNA)
2. Diabetes Nurse Intervention Clinic (OPAS DMIC/RDNI)
3. DM nurse group (OPAS RDNG)
4. Dietitian Counselling (OPAS DC/DG)
5. Physiotherapy (OPAS PTC/PTG)
6. Diabetes Doctor Session (OPAS RDR)
7. Retino photo Assessment (OPAS RDO)
8. Blood taking appointment (OPAS LABT)

The secondary outcomes are:

• Acceptance Rate of SMS Reminder Vs Telephone Reminder Vs no reminder

• Factors associated with acceptance of SMS

  1. Personal Parameters: Age, sex, educational level, occupation, mobile phone models, Habit of using mobile phone service
  2. Disease Parameters: Number and types of comorbidity, disease control (by biochemical markers)
  3. Quality of Life (by SF-6D)
• Reported adverse effects of the reminder system
• Chang in biochemical markers (BMI, HbA1c, LDL-c level) 6-9 months later

Subjects who agreed to participate in this study will first receive a survey on the acceptance of SMS service. For those agree to receive SMS reminder, they will be randomized to:

1. an SMS remind them to come for scheduled clinic appointment 24-72 hours before, or
2. usual care with no reminder / telephone reminder.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Anticipated): 270
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Man Chi Dao, M.B.B.S.; Phone Number: +85236515411; Email: thomasmcdao@gmail.com

Study Locations

• Hong Kong
  • Kwai Chung, Hong Kong, 000
    • Recruiting
    • Ha Kwai Chung General Outpatient Clinic
    • Contact: Man Chi Dao; Phone Number: +85236515411; Email: thomasmcdao@gmail.com
    • Principal Investigator: Man Chi Dao, M.B.B.S.
    • Sub-Investigator: Sau Nga Fu, M.B.B.S.

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• With diagnosis of type 2 diabetes

• Have more than 1 clinic services appointment under RAMP-DM programme:

  (e.g. blood taking, diabetic nurse individual counselling, group education, diabetic complication screening, retinal photo assessment, dietician counselling, etc)

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Cannot read or receive appointment schedule on mobile phone
2. Do not speak Cantonese/English or read Chinese/English
3. Mentally incapacitated
4. Pregnant Women

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Health Services Research
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: SMS group; receive a mobile phone text reminder for scheduled clinic appointment 24-72 hours before,	Other: Mobile phone text message reminder; an SMS remind subjects to come for scheduled clinic appointment 24-72 hours before
No Intervention: Usual care group; Usual care, either telephone reminder or no reminder

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Attendance Rate of the scheduled clinic appointment	Attendance Rate	between booking time and appointment time, usually within 1 weeks to 16 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: The University of Hong Kong
• Collaborators: Hospital Authority, Hong Kong
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Man Chi Dao, M.B.B.S., Resident

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): November 1, 2016
• Primary Completion (Anticipated): June 30, 2017
• Study Completion (Anticipated): March 30, 2018

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: February 14, 2017
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 14, 2017
• First Posted (Actual): February 16, 2017

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): February 16, 2017
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 14, 2017
• Last Verified: February 1, 2017

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Short Message Service; appointment reminder; Attendance rate
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Glucose Metabolism Disorders; Metabolic Diseases; Endocrine System Diseases; Diabetes Mellitus; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2
• Other Study ID Numbers: KW/EX-16-104(100-10)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: UNDECIDED

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No