The effect of text message prompts on breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer screening rates among US women: a systematic review
Creators: name: Williams, Celeste
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2015

description: Background: Screening rates for breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer for US women are below targeted goals established by Healthy People 2020. Evidenced-based screening interventions focus on effective communication to patients. In our modern society, text messaging has become a preferred mechanism of communication. Text messaging in healthcare has preliminarily been shown to have positive effects on patient behavior as related to appointment and medication adherence, as well as clinical outcomes of smoking cessation and weight loss. The objective of this study was to conduct a systematic review of the effect text message reminders on breast, cervical, and colorectal screening rates for US women. Additionally, this systematic review will assess intention and acceptability to screen for breast, cervical, and colorectal cancers among US women. Methods: We searched Medline, Web of Science, and CINAHL databases for studies assessing text message reminders on screening for breast, cervical and colorectal cancer. Two reviewers independently selected studies for inclusion based on pre-specified criteria. Trials and observational studies examining any of the following outcomes were eligible: effect of text message reminders on breast, cervical, and colorectal screening rates, effect of text message reminders on intentionality to screen for breast, cervical, or colorectal cancer, and acceptability of text message reminders to screen for breast, cervical, or colorectal cancer. Results: Four studies are included for analysis: one randomized control trial, one pre-post intervention study, and two cross-sectional surveys. The RCT and pre-post intervention study address the effect on text messaging on screening rates. The RCT reviewed is fair quality and the effect of the text message reminder cannot be discerned; the text message reminder is embedded in a multifaceted intervention. Additionally, the pre-post intervention has poor internal validity and outcomes for effect on screening rates are based on self-reported data. The two cross-sectional studies and the pre-post intervention study assessed acceptability; the range (37 percent to 83 percent) and inconsistent definitions of acceptability do not provide evidence for a conclusive assessment. The pre-post intervention was the only study that addressed intentionality. Again, a poor quality rating for this study and a low rate (24 percent) of intention do not provide enough evidence for an intentionality conclusion. Conclusion: Based on this systematic review it is not clear whether text message reminders effect screening rates for breast, cervical, or colorectal cancer screening for US women. It also is not clear if text message reminders effect intentionality or acceptability to screen for breast, cervical, or colorectal cancer among US women. The studies reviewed were limited and the majority of studies were of poor quality. Future research should consist of more RCTs with diverse sample populations with with respect to age, race/ethnicity, insurance status, and geographic setting. Furthermore, text message interventions need to be isolated and clearly defined as reminders versus educational.