Text messaging: an innovative method of data collection in medical research.
Abstract
BACKGROUND The ubiquitous use of mobile phones in sending and receiving text messages has become a norm for young people Undeniably text messaging has become a new and important communication medium not only in the social realm but in education as well The aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of using text messaging as a means to collect data for a medical research project A cross sectional study was carried out during a double blind randomized controlled trial to assess the efficacy and safety of a probiotic in the management of Irritable Bowel Syndrome IBS The study aim was to assess the response rate of weekly symptom reports via Short Message Service SMS The subjects were undergraduates in a private medical university in Malaysia They were identified through a previous university wide study as suffering from IBS based on Rome III criteria The subjects were randomly assigned to either the treatment arm receiving a daily probiotic or the placebo arm They were required to score their symptoms using eight item questionnaires at baseline and thereafter weekly for a total of 8 weeks All subjects were given the choice to communicate their symptom scores by text messaging via mobile phones or by email SMS text messages were sent to remind trial subjects to attend face to face visits and to complete a paper based 34 item questionnaires on IBS quality of life assessment at baseline and at end of 8 weeks FINDINGS The response rate of weekly symptom scores via Short Message Service SMS from a total of 38 subjects was 100 Through the study 342 reports were submitted 33 3 of these were received on the due date without reminder 60 0 one day after the deadline after a single reminder 6 1 2 3 days after the deadline after 2 3 reminders and 0 6 5 days after the deadline after SMS phone reminder and face to face encounter All SMS symptom reports whether on time or late were complete With the help of SMS reminder all trial subjects completed the paper based IBS quality of life assessment at baseline and at end of study CONCLUSIONS This study found using text messaging via mobile phone an excellent instrument for collecting weekly symptom reports in response to trial medication reminding trial subjects to attend face to face visits and completing more complex paper based evaluation The 100 response rate of weekly symptom reports was facilitated by using simple number codes for SMS submission TRIAL REGISTRATION Not appropriate
Description
Keywords
At risk for a particular disease or infection, Client, Access to information or data, Acceptability, Alignment with local norms, Addressing individual beliefs and practices, Loss to follow up, Randomized, Experimental, Efficacy, Non-communicable diseases, Chronic care, Appointment reminders, Disease management, Data collection and reporting, SMS, Internet, Text