title: Text message reminders for second dose of influenza vaccine: a randomized controlled trial.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine whether provision of vaccine-health-literacy-promoting information in text message vaccine reminders improves receipt and timeliness of the second dose of influenza vaccine within a season for children in need of 2 doses.
  
  
  METHODS
  During the 2012-2013 season, families of eligible 6-month through 8-year-old children were recruited at the time of their first influenza vaccination from 3 community clinics in New York City. Children (n = 660) were randomly assigned to "educational" text message, "conventional" text message, and "written reminder-only" arms. At enrollment, all arms received a written reminder with next dose due date. Conventional messages included second dose due date and clinic walk-in hours. Educational messages added information regarding the need for a timely second dose. Receipt of second dose by April 30 was assessed by using χ(2) tests. Timeliness was assessed by receipt of second dose by 2 weeks after due date (day 42) using χ(2) and over time using a Kaplan-Meier analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Most families were Latino and publicly insured with no significant between-arm differences between groups. Children in the educational arm were more likely to receive a second dose by April 30 (72.7%) versus conventional (66.7%) versus written reminder-only arm (57.1%; P = .003). They also had more timely receipt by day 42 (P < .001) and over time (P < .001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this low-income, urban, minority population, embedding health literacy information improved the effectiveness of text message reminders in promoting timely delivery of a second dose of influenza vaccine, compared with conventional text messages and written reminder only.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Pediatrics, and Population and Family Health, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, New York; and New York-Presbyterian Hospital, New York, New York mstockwell@columbia.edu.
authors.forename: Melissa S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Stockwell
authors.affiliation: Departments of Pediatrics, and New York-Presbyterian Hospital, New York, New York.
authors.forename: Annika M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Hofstetter
authors.affiliation: Departments of Pediatrics, and.
authors.forename: Nathalie
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: DuRivage
authors.affiliation: Departments of Pediatrics, and.
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Barrett
authors.affiliation: Departments of Pediatrics, and.
authors.forename: Nadira
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Fernandez
authors.affiliation: Departments of Pediatrics, and.
authors.forename: Celibell Y
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Vargas
authors.affiliation: Departments of Pediatrics, and.
authors.forename: Stewin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Camargo
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007252:Influenza Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D007251:Influenza, Human / Q000517:prevention & control*; D008297:Male; D017010:Reminder Systems; D060145:Text Messaging; D014611:Vaccination
chemical_list: D007252:Influenza Vaccines
keywords: immunizations; influenza; mobile health; reminder-recall; text message