Text message reminders to improve outpatient therapy attendance among adolescents: a pilot study.
High rates of missed appointments and attrition are common barriers to treatment for adolescents attending outpatient mental health treatment. Such figures indicate a need for innovative strategies to engage youth in treatment. The current quasi-experimental pilot study examined the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of text message (TM) appointment reminders to improve attendance in a sample of 48 adolescents attending outpatient therapy. The sample was approximately 46% Latino and 40% African American with an equal number of males and females. Adolescents receiving TM reminders demonstrated significantly higher rates of attendance (65%) than a historical control group (49%) (p < .05). Participants in the TM group received reminders for the majority (88%) of their scheduled sessions with only 4% of reminders not received due to phone-related problems. Additionally, TM reminders received high patient satisfaction ratings. Findings from the present study suggest that TM reminders may be a cost-effective and developmentally appropriate strategy for engaging adolescents in treatment.
Department of Psychiatry, St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center.
Christopher E
0000-0001-6049-1874
CE
Branson
Department of Psychiatry, St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center.
Philip
P
Clemmey
Department of Psychiatry, St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center.
Preetika
P
Mukherjee
D000293:Adolescent; D001071:Appointments and Schedules; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000628:therapy*; D010045:Outpatients / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010349:Patient Compliance / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D010865:Pilot Projects; D017010:Reminder Systems; D060145:Text Messaging