A randomised controlled trial funded by the Imperial College Healthcare Charity has shown how a text message reminder sent 48 hours before a scheduled breast screening appointment can significantly improve uptake by patients by 6%.
The year-long study involved 1640 women aged 47 to 53, half of whom received a text reminder and were then found to be significantly more likely to attend their first breast screening appointment (69% attendance) than women in a control group who were not sent an SMS reminder.
The pilot study also highlighted the importance of up-to-date patient contact details. Of the women in the text message reminder group, only four in ten had a valid mobile telephone number recorded at their GP practice and were able to receive a text reminder. Looking at this sub-group in isolation means that 80% women attended their breast screening appointment, surpassing the national target for the first time in London.
Previous attempts to improve attendance rates in London by calling non-attenders and social marketing, generally proved ineffective and relatively expensive. Dr Deborah Cunningham, clinical director of the breast service at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and the lead on the study, says: “The potential long-term impact on someone’s life through a simple text message reminder about a breast screening appointment is staggering. We know Londoners have traditionally struggled to meet the national breast screening attendance rate target, but we know that people who attend their first screening appointment are more likely to attend subsequent invitations. We’ve shown through this simple and low cost intervention how many more Londoners could benefit from the early detection of breast cancer, especially as the idea is now being picked up in other parts of London.
Crucially, we’re now able to take our findings and experiences gained from this charity funded study and apply them to our next aim of improving cervical screening attendance rates in London.”