Content guidance for mobile phones short message service (SMS)-based antiretroviral therapy adherence and appointment reminders: a review of the literature
- 29 November 2018
- journal article
- review article
- Published by Taylor & Francis Ltd in AIDS Care
- Vol. 31 (5), 636-646
- https://doi.org/10.1080/09540121.2018.1549723
Abstract
Mobile phones are increasingly being used to support health activities, including the care and management of people living with HIV/AIDS. Short message service (SMS) has been explored as a means to optimize and support behaviour change. However, there is minimal guidance on messaging content development. The purpose of this review was to inform the content of SMS messages for mobile health (mHealth) initiatives designed to support anti-retroviral therapy adherence and clinic appointment keeping in resource-limited settings. PubMed, OvidMedline, Google Scholar, K4Health’s mHealth Evidence database, the mHealth Working Group project resource, and Health COMpass were searched. A request to online communities for recommendations on message content was also made. 1010 unique sources were identified, of which 51 were included. The information was organized into three categories: pre-message development, message development, and security and privacy. Fifteen of the publications explicitly provided their message content. Important lessons when developing the content of SMS were: (1) conducting formative research; (2) grounding content in behaviour change theory; and (3) reviewing proposed content with experts. Best practices exist for developing message content for behaviour change. Efforts should be continued to apply lessons learned from the existing literature to inform mHealth initiatives supporting HIV/AIDS care and treatment.Keywords
Funding Information
- Canadian Institutes of Health Research (FRN TT5–128270)
- National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (UL1 TR001064)
- National Institutes of Health (1K23AI097010-01A1)
- Lifespan/Tufts/Brown Center for AIDS Research (P30 AI042853)
This publication has 60 references indexed in Scilit:
- Perceptions of HIV infected patients on the use of cell phone as a tool to support their antiretroviral adherence; a cross-sectional study in a large referral hospital in KenyaBMC Public Health, 2013
- Investigating community ownership of a text message programme to improve adherence to antiretroviral therapy and provider-client communication: a mixed methods research protocolBMJ Open, 2013
- Using no-cost mobile phone reminders to improve attendance for HIV test results: a pilot study in rural SwazilandInfectious Diseases of Poverty, 2013
- The effect of weekly short message service communication on patient retention in care in the first year after HIV diagnosis: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial (WelTel Retain)BMJ Open, 2013
- Mobile phone text messages for improving adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART): a protocol for an individual patient data meta-analysis of randomised trialsBMJ Open, 2013
- Opening communication channels with people living with HIV using mobile phone text messaging: insights from the CAMPS trialBMC Research Notes, 2013
- Mobile phone technologies improve adherence to antiretroviral treatment in a resource-limited setting: a randomized controlled trial of text message remindersAIDS, 2011
- Randomized Controlled Trial of a Personalized Cellular Phone Reminder System to Enhance Adherence to Antiretroviral TherapyAIDS Patient Care and STDs, 2011
- The cameroon mobile phone sms (CAMPS) trial: a protocol for a randomized controlled trial of mobile phone text messaging versus usual care for improving adherence to highly active anti-retroviral therapyTrials, 2011
- Effects of a mobile phone short message service on antiretroviral treatment adherence in Kenya (WelTel Kenya1): a randomised trialThe Lancet, 2010