Evaluating the use of text-message reminders and personalised text-message reminders on the return of participant questionnaires in trials, a systematic review and meta-analysis.

IF 2.2 3区 医学 Q3 MEDICINE, RESEARCH & EXPERIMENTAL Clinical Trials Pub Date : 2025-03-12 DOI:10.1177/17407745251320888
Laura Doherty, Catherine Arundel, Elizabeth Coleman, Ailish Byrne, Katherine Jones
{"title":"Evaluating the use of text-message reminders and personalised text-message reminders on the return of participant questionnaires in trials, a systematic review and meta-analysis.","authors":"Laura Doherty, Catherine Arundel, Elizabeth Coleman, Ailish Byrne, Katherine Jones","doi":"10.1177/17407745251320888","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Randomised controlled trials are widely accepted as the gold standard research methodology for the evaluation of interventions. However, they often display poor participant retention. To prevent this, various participant interventions have been identified and evaluated through the use of studies within a trial. Two such interventions are participant short message service reminders (also known as text-messages) and personalised participant short message service reminders, designed to encourage a participant to return a study questionnaire. While previous studies within a trial have evaluated the effectiveness of these two retention strategies, trialists continue to spend both time and money on these strategies while the evidence remains inconclusive.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>This systematic review and meta-analysis compared the use of short message service reminders with no short message service reminder and personalised short message service reminders with non-personalised short message service reminders, on participant retention. Eligible studies were identified through advanced searches of electronic databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE and Cochrane Library) and hand-searching of alternative information sources. The review primary outcome was the proportion of study questionnaires returned for the individual study within a trial primary analysis time points.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Nine eligible studies within a trial were identified, of which four compared short message service versus no short message service and five compared personalised short message service versus non-personalised short message service. For those that compared personalised short message service versus non-personalised short message service, only three were deemed appropriate for meta-analysis. The primary outcome results for short message service versus no short message service concluded that short message service led to a statistically non-significant increase in the odds of study questionnaire return by 9% (odds ratio = 1.09, 95% confidence interval = 0.92 to 1.30). Similarly, comparison of personalised short message service versus non-personalised short message service concluded that personalised short message service caused a statistically non-significant increase in odds by 22% (odds ratio = 1.22, 95% confidence interval = 0.95 to 1.59).</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The effectiveness of both short message service and personalised short message service as retention tools remains inconclusive and further study within a trial evaluations are required. However, as short message services are low in cost, easy to use and generally well accepted by participants, it is suggested that trialists adopt a pragmatic approach and utilise these reminders until further research is conducted. Given both the minimal addition in cost for studies already utilising short message service reminders and some evidence of effect, personalisation should also be considered.</p>","PeriodicalId":10685,"journal":{"name":"Clinical Trials","volume":" ","pages":"17407745251320888"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2000,"publicationDate":"2025-03-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Clinical Trials","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1177/17407745251320888","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"MEDICINE, RESEARCH & EXPERIMENTAL","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background: Randomised controlled trials are widely accepted as the gold standard research methodology for the evaluation of interventions. However, they often display poor participant retention. To prevent this, various participant interventions have been identified and evaluated through the use of studies within a trial. Two such interventions are participant short message service reminders (also known as text-messages) and personalised participant short message service reminders, designed to encourage a participant to return a study questionnaire. While previous studies within a trial have evaluated the effectiveness of these two retention strategies, trialists continue to spend both time and money on these strategies while the evidence remains inconclusive.

Methods: This systematic review and meta-analysis compared the use of short message service reminders with no short message service reminder and personalised short message service reminders with non-personalised short message service reminders, on participant retention. Eligible studies were identified through advanced searches of electronic databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE and Cochrane Library) and hand-searching of alternative information sources. The review primary outcome was the proportion of study questionnaires returned for the individual study within a trial primary analysis time points.

Results: Nine eligible studies within a trial were identified, of which four compared short message service versus no short message service and five compared personalised short message service versus non-personalised short message service. For those that compared personalised short message service versus non-personalised short message service, only three were deemed appropriate for meta-analysis. The primary outcome results for short message service versus no short message service concluded that short message service led to a statistically non-significant increase in the odds of study questionnaire return by 9% (odds ratio = 1.09, 95% confidence interval = 0.92 to 1.30). Similarly, comparison of personalised short message service versus non-personalised short message service concluded that personalised short message service caused a statistically non-significant increase in odds by 22% (odds ratio = 1.22, 95% confidence interval = 0.95 to 1.59).

Conclusion: The effectiveness of both short message service and personalised short message service as retention tools remains inconclusive and further study within a trial evaluations are required. However, as short message services are low in cost, easy to use and generally well accepted by participants, it is suggested that trialists adopt a pragmatic approach and utilise these reminders until further research is conducted. Given both the minimal addition in cost for studies already utilising short message service reminders and some evidence of effect, personalisation should also be considered.

查看原文
分享 分享
微信好友 朋友圈 QQ好友 复制链接
本刊更多论文
求助全文
约1分钟内获得全文 去求助
来源期刊
Clinical Trials
Clinical Trials 医学-医学:研究与实验
CiteScore
4.10
自引率
3.70%
发文量
82
审稿时长
6-12 weeks
期刊介绍: Clinical Trials is dedicated to advancing knowledge on the design and conduct of clinical trials related research methodologies. Covering the design, conduct, analysis, synthesis and evaluation of key methodologies, the journal remains on the cusp of the latest topics, including ethics, regulation and policy impact.
期刊最新文献
Evaluating the use of text-message reminders and personalised text-message reminders on the return of participant questionnaires in trials, a systematic review and meta-analysis. Impact of differences between interim and post-interim analysis populations on outcomes of a group sequential trial: Example of the MOVe-OUT study. From RAGs to riches: Utilizing large language models to write documents for clinical trials. Hybrid sample size calculations for cluster randomised trials using assurance. Characterization of studies considered and required under Medicare's coverage with evidence development program.
×
引用
GB/T 7714-2015
复制
MLA
复制
APA
复制
导出至
BibTeX EndNote RefMan NoteFirst NoteExpress
×
×
提示
您的信息不完整,为了账户安全,请先补充。
现在去补充
×
提示
您因"违规操作"
具体请查看互助需知
我知道了
×
提示
现在去查看 取消
×
提示
确定
0
微信
客服QQ
Book学术公众号 扫码关注我们
反馈
×
意见反馈
请填写您的意见或建议
请填写您的手机或邮箱
已复制链接
已复制链接
快去分享给好友吧!
我知道了
×
扫码分享
扫码分享
Book学术官方微信
Book学术文献互助
Book学术文献互助群
群 号:481959085
Book学术
文献互助 智能选刊 最新文献 互助须知 联系我们:info@booksci.cn
Book学术提供免费学术资源搜索服务,方便国内外学者检索中英文文献。致力于提供最便捷和优质的服务体验。
Copyright © 2023 Book学术 All rights reserved.
ghs 京公网安备 11010802042870号 京ICP备2023020795号-1