title: Effect of short message service as a reminder on breast self-examination in breast cancer patients: a randomized controlled trial.
abstract: This study was a single-blind randomized controlled trial to assess the effectiveness of SMS as a reminder for breast self-examination (BSE). Participants who underwent surgery for breast cancer were recruited and randomized to the intervention group or the control group. Subjects in the intervention group received one text message on the first day of every month that reminded them to complete monthly BSE and the other text message on the fifteenth day of every month that contained information about breast cancer. Primary and secondary outcomes were self-reported BSE adherence and the frequency of BSE over 6 months. Between August 2010 and December 2011, 216 patients were randomly assigned to the SMS group (n = 110) or the control group (n = 106). A total of 202 patients were included in the final analysis. Self-reported BSE adherence and the frequency of BSE over the past six months were significantly higher in the intervention group than in the control group. Multivariate analysis showed that the SMS was the only significant factor for BSE adherence (p < 0.001). The short-term results of our study suggest that SMS is an effective and low-cost method to enhance adherence to BSE with existing information technology infrastructure.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, College of Medicine, Seoul National University, Republic of Korea Department of Surgery, National Medical Center, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Il Yong
authors.initials: IY
authors.lastname: Chung
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Eunyoung
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Cha Kyong
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Yom
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Dongwon
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Young
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Yoonsun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hwang
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Jin Youn
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Jang
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, College of Medicine, Seoul National University, Republic of Korea Department of Surgery, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Republic of Korea brcakorea@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Sung-Won
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D016504:Breast Self-Examination / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D010349:Patient Compliance / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017010:Reminder Systems; D060145:Text Messaging; D055815:Young Adult