Evaluation of Short Message System Reminder Impact on Retinopathy of Prematurity Appointment Attendance in the Referral Center of Northeastern Iran

Document Type : original article

Authors

1 Assistant Professor of Health Information Management, Department of Health Information Technology, Ferdows Faculty of Medical Sciences, Birjand University of Medical Sciences, Birjand, Iran.

2 Professor in Ophthalmology, Eye Research Center, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.

3 Ph.D. Candidate of Medical Informatics, Department of Medical Informatics, Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.

4 Eye Research Center, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.

Abstract

Background: Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is a significant cause of preventable vision impairment in newborns, particularly in developing countries. It can result in severe conditions such as retinal detachment, cataracts, glaucoma, and refractive errors. Therefore, screening and monitoring infants with ROP is crucial .This study was conducted to assess the effect of short message reminders on the attendance of infants with ROP at a tertiary referral center.
Methods: An observational case-control study was carried out at the ROP clinic in Khatam-Al-Anbia Hospital from September 2019 to March 2021. The study included a cohort of patients with follow-up appointments recorded in the ROP electronic system. Each group comprised 600 patients. Researchers used a questionnaire they developed to gauge the attitudes of parents who received short message service (SMS) reminders for upcoming appointments.
Results: In the control group, the non-attendance rate was 31%, while the intervention group that received SMS reminders had a slightly lower rate of 28.5%. However, receiving SMS reminders did not significantly increase patient attendance at scheduled appointments (p=0.344). Conversely, the chi-square test revealed that attendance was significantly associated with the father's education level (p=0.009), disease stages (p=0.001), and place of residence (p=0.023). Furthermore, according to the logistic regression analysis, SMS reminders did not significantly enhance patient attendance (Exp(B)=1.08, p=0.55).
Conclusion: Infant attendance at scheduled appointments was influenced by the father's social status, the patient's disease stage, and place of residence. Nonetheless, the implementation of reminder SMS did not have a statistically significant impact on attendance rates.

Keywords

References

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Journal of Pediatric Perspectives
Volume 13, Issue 5
May 2025
Pages 19463-19474

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