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A Randomized Controlled Trial of SMS text messages as appointment reminders in the Pediatric Dental Setting Nelson TM*, Berg JH, Bell JF, Leggott PJ, Seminario AL Department of Pediatric Dentistry; Department of Health Services, University of Washington, Seattle, WA Background No Show s affect Patients and Healthcare Non-Attendees have higher morbidity Non-Attendance increases healthcare cost No-Show as a major reason for not seeing Medicaid patients Text Messaging as a Predominant Method of Communication 3.1 billion texts were sent in the US (2008), surpassing the number of calls Individuals of low SES more likely to have cell phones only Younger individuals (parents of young children) text more Text messages are much more cost effective than voice reminders The main goal of this is study was to determine the effectiveness of SMS text as a method of appointment reminder in The University of Washington (UW) Pediatric Dental Clinic Methods Study Population: Caregiver/Child pairs (N=318) of the UW Pediatric Dental Clinic were randomly allocated to Voice Reminder (control group) or text message (intervention group) Procedure: Patients assigned to the SMS Text reminder group received a computer generated text message on their cell phone 48 hours prior to their appointment Data Analysis: Chi 2 tests to compare the distribution of the study variables by appointment reminder type and by appointment status. Logistic regression to model appointment status as a function of reminder type and the study variables Critical value for all tests was established at 5% (=0.05) Conclusion Text messages are not likely to be a good standard reminder in university-based Pediatric Dentistry clinics In this study more participants would prefer a voice message reminder than a text message reminder Future studies should investigate text in alternative settings, with self-selected patients, and as an adjunct reminder Results SMS Text Message Reminder Patients Were More Likely to No Show to Their Appointments: OR Adjusted for Caregiver Age = 2.12 Contact Information: Travis Nelson tmnelson@uw.edu Survey Administered N= 543 Assessing for Eligibility Enrollment N= 318 Random Allocation Excluded: Did not meet eligibility criteria Declined to participate SMS Text Reminder (N= 160) 48 hrs prior to apt Show/ No Show Mobile Phone Voice Reminder (N= 158) 48 hrs prior to apt Show/ No Show Study Design: Randomized controlled Trial Methods Results Study population demographics by randomization group Variables N SMS Text (%) Voice Reminder (%) p Caregiver age0.046* 15-25 26-30 31-40 40+ Total 24 47 175 66 13 (8.4) 31 (20.1) 76 (49.4) 34 (22.1) 154 11 (7.0) 16 (10.1) 99 (62.6) 32 (20.3) 158 Child age0.16 1 to 5 6 to 11 12 to 18 Total 24 47 175 25 (16.2) 83 (53.9) 46 (29.9) 154 32 (20) 78 (48.8) 50 (31.3) 160 Preferred Reminder Type0.824 Text Voice Either Total 86 131 100 45 (28.7) 64 (40.8) 48 (30.5) 157 41 (25.6) 67 (41.9) 52 (32.5) 160 Type of Telephone Used0.692 Cell Phone Landline and Cell Phone Total 165 152 84 (53.2) 64 (40.8) 158 81 (50.9) 78 (49.1) 159