Clinical trial NCT01793220: Economic and Clinical Outcomes of Attendance in Psychosis Services Using SMS.
Official title: Economic and Clinical Outcomes of Attendance in Psychosis Services Using SMS: The ECO APSS Randomized Controlled Trial
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: UNKNOWN
Phase: NA
Conditions: Psychosis
Lead sponsor: King's College London
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2013-02-15
Enrollment: 600
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH

Brief summary: The aim of this research is to find out if mobile phone text message reminders of appointments can help to address missed appointments in Psychosis Community Services. Another aim is to examine if fewer missed appointments result in clinical benefits for service users and in lower costs for Psychosis Community Services over a period of 6 months. 600 users from 2 London Psychosis Community Services will take part in this research. Each participant will be put into one of two groups, as s/he joins the study: In the first (experimental) group, each participant will receive appointment reminders for 6 months (7 and 1 day/s before each appointment), starting with the first available opportunity upon joining the study. In the second (control) group, each participant will not receive appointment reminders for 6 months. The choice of group for each individual will be made at random by a computer. Clinical information will be collected for 6 months from the time each participant joins the study, using, with his or her consent, their anonymised electronic medical records. The following clinical information will be compared between the experimental and control groups: Attendance of appointments, number of inpatient admissions, number of days in inpatient care, number of inpatient admissions under the mental health treatment act, number of referrals to a home treatment team, number of times patient has changed medication, health and social functioning. Service use, service costs and the cost-effectiveness of the reminder system will also be examined. Towards the end of their participation, service users, as well as mental health professionals, will be invited to express their views, concerns and suggestions in relation to the reminder service by completing a brief anonymised (service users) or anonymous (staff) questionnaire


Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Be a user of Psychosis Community Services
* Manifest at least a basic level of comprehension of the study (including its nature, purpose, procedures and implications) prior to enrollment, and adequate capacity to consent, as assessed by the University of California, San Diego Brief Assessment of Capacity to Consent (UBACC) scale.
* Own a mobile phone.
* Be willing to receive SMS reminders of appointments with the Psychosis Community Service.
* Provide written informed consent to participate in the study.

Exclusion Criteria:

* Is not a user of Psychosis Community Services.
* Cannot manifest at least a basic level of comprehension of the study (including its nature, purpose, procedures and implications) prior to enrollment, and/or adequate capacity to consent, as assessed by the University of California, San Diego Brief Assessment of Capacity to Consent (UBACC) scale.
* Does not own a mobile phone.
* Is under 18 years of age.

Primary outcomes:
measure: Outcome of appointment (attended, missed, cancelled by the participant, cancelled by the service)
timeFrame: From baseline to end of intervention (6 months)
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Economic outcome: Use of Psychosis Services and impact on cost
timeFrame: From baseline to end of intervention (6 months)
measure: Clinical outcome: Number of inpatient admissions
timeFrame: From baseline to end of intervention (6 months)
measure: Clinical outcome: Number of days in inpatient care
timeFrame: From baseline to end of intervention (6 months)
measure: Clinical outcome: Number of inpatient admissions under the mental health treatment act
timeFrame: From baseline to end of intervention (6 months)
measure: Clinical outcome: Number of referrals to a home treatment team
timeFrame: From baseline to end of intervention (6 months)
measure: Clinical outcome: Number of times patient has had changes to their medication
timeFrame: From baseline to end of intervention (6 months)
measure: Clinical outcome: Level of health and social functioning, as reflected in the patient's score on the Health of the Nation Outcome Scales (HoNOS)
timeFrame: Baseline and 6 months
measure: Economic outcome: cost effectiveness of the SMS intervention
timeFrame: 1 year after baseline
Other outcomes:
measure: Views and suggestions of services users in relation to the SMS reminders
timeFrame: 6 months (end of study participation)
measure: Views and suggestions of mental health professionals in relation to the SMS reminders
timeFrame: After the study has ended (1 year after 1st recruitment)
Locations:
city: London
country: United Kingdom
facility: South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust
state: Greater London
Study officials:
affiliation: King's College London
name: Daniel P Hayes, MSc
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References: