Zoe Ke Hui Wong , Xin Ying Chai , Muhamad Nadzirah Aqilah , Foong Shiang Loong , Albert Li Ren Chong , Carla Zi Cai , Wan Fadhilah binti Wan Ismail and Anil Gandhi
Abstract Background: Introduction: Attendance rate of scheduled follow-up visits in primary health care clinic has been decreasing lately among the Malaysian population. This situation was seen in diabetic health clinic where poor compliance with follow-up visits has causes serious health complications. Aim: This study was carried out to investigate the feasibility of Mobile SMS reminders in improving attendance rate of diabetic patients for follow-up visits. Methodology: A non-randomised pilot study of assessing the effectiveness of SMS reminders to improve patients’ attendance rate for scheduled follow-up visits was conducted among diabetic patients in the primary health care clinic. The participants were divided into 3 groups: baseline group (n=8084), control group (n=3347) and SMS reminders group (n=2258). 2 standardized SMS reminders were sent to the mobile phone of patients in the SMS reminders group the 2 weeks and 2 hours before their scheduled appointment date. Results: SMS reminders significantly improve compliance with follow-up visits among diabetic patients. Conclusion: SMS reminders has proved to be effective in improving follow-up adherence among diabetic patients and were cost-effective.
