title: Can Low-Cost Strategies Improve Attendance Rates in Brief Psychological Therapy? Double-Blind Randomized Controlled Trial.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess if telephone text message appointment reminders and orientation leaflets can increase the proportion of patients who attend brief interventions after being assessed as suitable for guided self-help following cognitive behavioral therapy principles.
  
  
  METHODS
  Attendance was operationally defined as having accessed at least 1 therapy appointment. A secondary outcome was the proportion of attenders who completed or dropped out of therapy. After initial assessment, 254 patients with depression and anxiety disorders were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 groups: (a) usual waitlist control, (b) leaflet, (c) leaflet plus text message. Differences in the proportions of patients who started and completed therapy across groups were assessed using chi-square and logistic regression analyses.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Overall, 63% of patients in this sample attended therapy. Between-group differences were not significant for attendance, x(2) (2) = 3.94, p = .14, or completion rates, x(2) (2) = 2.98, p = .23. These results were not confounded by demographic or clinical characteristics.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Low-cost strategies appear to make no significant difference to therapy attendance and completion rates.
authors.affiliation: Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust.|University of York.
authors.forename: Jaime
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Delgadillo
authors.affiliation: Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust.
authors.forename: Omar
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Moreea
authors.affiliation: Greater Manchester West Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust.
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Murphy
authors.affiliation: University of York.
authors.forename: Shehzad
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ali
authors.affiliation: University of Alaska Anchorage.
authors.forename: Joshua K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Swift
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000628:therapy*; D001071:Appointments and Schedules; D015928:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000628:therapy*; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010349:Patient Compliance; D011614:Psychotherapy, Brief / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017010:Reminder Systems / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D060145:Text Messaging / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
keywords: attrition; cognitive behavioral therapy; dropout; guided self-help; randomized controlled trial