Patient-clinician mobile communication: analyzing text messaging between adolescents with asthma and nurse case managers.
BACKGROUND
With the increasing penetration of digital mobile devices among adolescents, mobile texting messaging is emerging as a new channel for patient-clinician communication for this population. In particular, it can promote active communication between healthcare clinicians and adolescents with asthma. However, little is known about the content of the messages exchanged in medical encounters via mobile text messaging. Therefore, this study explored the content of text messaging between clinicians and adolescents with asthma.


METHODS
We collected a total of 2,953 text messages exchanged between 5 nurse case managers and 131 adolescents with asthma through a personal digital assistant. The text messages were coded using a scheme developed by adapting categories from the Roter Interaction Analysis System.


RESULTS
Nurse case managers sent more text messages (n=2,639) than adolescents with asthma. Most messages sent by nurse case managers were targeted messages (n=2,475) directed at all adolescents with asthma, whereas there were relatively few tailored messages (n=164) that were created personally for an individual adolescent. In addition, both targeted and tailored messages emphasized task-focused behaviors over socioemotional behaviors. Likewise, text messages (n=314) sent by adolescents also emphasized task-focused over socioemotional behaviors.


CONCLUSIONS
Mobile texting messaging has the potential to play an important role in patient-clinician communication. It promotes not only active interaction, but also patient-centered communication with clinicians. In order to achieve this potential, healthcare clinicians may need to focus on socioemotional communication as well as task-oriented communication.
1 Survey & Health Policy Research Center, Dongguk University , Seoul, South Korea .
Woohyun
W
Yoo
Soo Yun
SY
Kim
Yangsun
Y
Hong
Ming-Yuan
MY
Chih
Dhavan V
DV
Shah
David H
DH
Gustafson
D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D000067697:Adolescent Health; D001249:Asthma / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D019090:Case Management / Q000458:organization & administration*; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D009726:Nurses; D060145:Text Messaging / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
adolescent health; computer-mediated social support; e-health; mobile health; mobile messaging; patient–clinician interactions; telemedicine