Role of mobile health on patient enrollment for cleft lip‐palate surgery: A comparative study using SMS blast text messaging in Zimbabwe

• DOI: 10.1002/lio2.287
• Publication Date: 2019-06-28T13:54:34Z
• Authors: Shekhar K. Gadkaree; Travis T. Tollefson; Jennifer C. Fuller; Faith C. Muchemwa; Aleck Gonga; David A. Shaye
• Keywords: Pediatric Research Initiative; Comparative Effectiveness Research; 330; Biomedical and Clinical Sciences; RD1-811; Global health; 610; Health Services; global surgery; Facial Plastics and Reconstructive Surgery; mhealth; 3. Good health; 03 medical and health sciences; Good Health and Well Being; 0302 clinical medicine; Otorhinolaryngology; RF1-547; Clinical Research; Health Services and Systems; Health Sciences; text messaging; Surgery; Dental/Oral and Craniofacial Disease; mobile health; cleft lip and palate

BackgroundPatients' lack of awareness of available services is a significant barrier to delivering surgical care in resource‐limited settings. Short message service (SMS) text messaging is a potential means to disseminate this information in resource‐limited settings, where rates of mobile phone usage are high.MethodsA blast SMS text informing local populations of upcoming cleft lip‐palate (CLP) surgical services was distributed to 25% of the subscriber base 1 week prior to arrival of a (CLP) surgical team in Zimbabwe. A retrospective cohort analysis comparing characteristics of patients presenting to the CLP clinic in the year prior to (2016) and 2 years following (2017–2018) the implementation of the blast SMS text messaging system is performed to assess its impact.ResultsPatients presenting to a single Zimbabwean CLP surgical program in the years with SMS messaging notifications were significantly more likely (52 [64%] vs. 5 [17%], P < .001) to have been informed of surgical services through their mobile phones. The average distance traveled per patient was not significantly different prior to implementation of mass text messaging (180.4 km [SD114.8] vs. 167.4 km [SD105.9], P = .580). The average patient age was significantly higher following the implementation of mass text messaging (7.4 [SD8.7] vs. 3.0 [SD2.8] years, P = .010).ConclusionsSMS messaging is an effective method of informing patients of CLP surgical services in resource‐limited settings. After implementation of SMS text notifications, surgical patients were of increased age, but showed no difference in distance traveled.Level of EvidenceIV