Text Messaging Reminders for Influenza Vaccine in Primary Care (TXT4FLUJAB)
A Feasibility Study for a Cluster Randomised Trial of Text Messaging Reminders for Influenza Vaccine in Patients Under 65 in Clinical Risk Groups in English Primary Care.
Influenza morbidity and mortality cause a substantial financial burden to the NHS and to the UK as a whole. Influenza vaccine is safe and effective but is required annually because the circulating strain of virus changes each year. In the UK in 2012, the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) recommended that at least 75% of elderly people (aged 65+) and 75% people under 65 with certain chronic conditions (e.g. chronic heart disease, diabetes, asthma, etc) should be vaccinated. While primary care practices are achieving these targets for elderly patients, those set for younger patients with chronic conditions are not being met, with a third of patients being missed in the 2011/12 flu season and with no substantial improvements in uptake in the past decade. Therefore strategies to increase flu vaccine uptake in these patients are required.
Previous trials have shown that patient reminders can increase vaccine uptake and in particular, text messaging has shown to work in some populations in the United States as a cheap, simple and effective reminder. However, whether the same is true in UK general practice is unclear. The use of text messaging in the NHS for appointment reminders is also increasing as it is cheap, quick and effective. Text messaging is already used in roughly 30% of practices to remind patients about their flu vaccine but there has been no trial addressing its effectiveness. Therefore, we propose a trial of a text messaging flu vaccine reminder in patients aged under 65 who have a chronic condition. We hypothesise that practices that send a text message will have increased flu vaccine uptake.
Studie Overzicht
Toestand
Conditie
Interventie / Behandeling
Studietype
Inschrijving (Werkelijk)
Fase
- Niet toepasbaar
Contacten en locaties
Studie Locaties
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Select county
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London, Select county, Verenigd Koninkrijk, WC1E 7HT
- London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
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Deelname Criteria
Geschiktheidscriteria
Leeftijden die in aanmerking komen voor studie
Accepteert gezonde vrijwilligers
Geslachten die in aanmerking komen voor studie
Beschrijving
Inclusion Criteria:
- practices must use text messaging software to communicate with patients;
- practices must not have used a text message to remind patients aged under 65 about influenza vaccine in the 2012/13 influenza season.
- practices will send the text message to eligible patients who are aged between 18 and 65, with one of the following risk conditions: chronic respiratory disease, chronic liver disease, chronic kidney disease, chronic heart disease, chronic neurological disease, immunosuppression
Exclusion Criteria:
- practices will not send the text message to pregnant women.
Studie plan
Hoe is de studie opgezet?
Ontwerpdetails
- Toewijzing: Gerandomiseerd
- Interventioneel model: Parallelle opdracht
- Masker: Geen (open label)
Wapens en interventies
Deelnemersgroep / Arm |
Interventie / Behandeling |
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Ander: Standard care
Practices in the standard care arm will proceed with their seasonal influenza campaign as planned.
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Practices in the standard care arm will be asked to proceed with their seasonal influenza campaign as planned.
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Experimenteel: Text messaging intervention
Practices in the text messaging intervention arm will be asked to send a text message to patients under 65 at risk of influenza.
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Practices in the text messaging intervention arm will be asked to send a text message to patients under 65 at risk of influenza.
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Wat meet het onderzoek?
Primaire uitkomstmaten
Uitkomstmaat |
Tijdsspanne |
|---|---|
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Proportion of patients at risk who received flu vaccine
Tijdsspanne: up to 9 months
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up to 9 months
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Secundaire uitkomstmaten
Uitkomstmaat |
Maatregel Beschrijving |
Tijdsspanne |
|---|---|---|
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Proportion of practices reporting 'yes' to difficulties
Tijdsspanne: up to 3 months
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Proportion of practices reporting 'yes' that they had difficulties in sending the text message to patients
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up to 3 months
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Recruitment rate
Tijdsspanne: 3 months after initial contact
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This is a pilot feasibility study and recruitment of practices to the trial is an outcome.
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3 months after initial contact
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Practice delivery of text message
Tijdsspanne: One month after study start (October 1st 2013)
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Did the practice send the text message to eligible patients and was the content of the message as described in the protocol.
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One month after study start (October 1st 2013)
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Were outcome data available
Tijdsspanne: up to 9 months
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Were outcome data regarding text message and flu vaccine uptake available.
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up to 9 months
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Medewerkers en onderzoekers
Studie record data
Bestudeer belangrijke data
Studie start
Primaire voltooiing (Werkelijk)
Studie voltooiing (Werkelijk)
Studieregistratiedata
Eerst ingediend
Eerst ingediend dat voldeed aan de QC-criteria
Eerst geplaatst (Schatting)
Updates van studierecords
Laatste update geplaatst (Schatting)
Laatste update ingediend die voldeed aan QC-criteria
Laatst geverifieerd
Meer informatie
Termen gerelateerd aan deze studie
Trefwoorden
Aanvullende relevante MeSH-voorwaarden
Andere studie-ID-nummers
- txt4flujab
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