title: The use of weekly text messaging over 6 months was a feasible method for monitoring the clinical course of low back pain in patients seeking chiropractic care.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study critically evaluates a new method of collecting frequent data using mobile phones and text messages. Fluctuating conditions such as low back pain (LBP) need frequent monitoring to describe the clinical course in detail and to account for individual and subgroup variations.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this multicentre prospective observational study, 262 subjects with nonspecific LBP were followed with weekly text messages for 6 months, with the question "How many days this previous week has your low back pain been bothersome?" The text replies were instantly recorded in a data file to be merged with baseline and follow up data (age, gender, pain intensity, duration, and self- rated health) collected through ordinary questionnaires. The response rate, user-friendliness, and compliance of this method were evaluated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean response rate for the text messages throughout the study was 82.5% and was unaffected by season. The method was found to be user friendly. Dropout was not affected by age and gender, but compliance was possibly somewhat affected by outcome.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Weekly text messages are a useful method of data collection to examine the clinical course of LBP in the primary care sector.
authors.affiliation: The Karolinska Institutet, Institute of Environmental Medicine, Unit of Intervention and Implementation Research, Nobels väg 13, Stockholm, Sweden. iben.axen@ki.se
authors.forename: Iben
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Axén
authors.forename: Lennart
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bodin
authors.forename: Gunnar
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bergström
authors.forename: Laszlo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Halasz
authors.forename: Fredrik
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lange
authors.forename: Peter W
authors.initials: PW
authors.lastname: Lövgren
authors.forename: Annika
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rosenbaum
authors.forename: Charlotte
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Leboeuf-Yde
authors.forename: Irene
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Jensen
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D040421:Cell Phone; D003625:Data Collection; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D017116:Low Back Pain / Q000628:therapy*; D008297:Male; D026882:Manipulation, Chiropractic / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010147:Pain Measurement / Q000379:methods; D011320:Primary Health Care; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013548:Sweden / Q000453:epidemiology; D060145:Text Messaging / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome