title: Does Short Message Service Increase Adherence to Smoking Cessation Clinic Appointments and Quitting Smoking?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Using innovative and scientific methods increases the rate of quitting in smokers. Short message service (SMS) is a communication tool widely used and well integrated in many people's daily lives. To increase adherence to appointments in smoking cessation clinics (SCC), it is thought that increased compliance could be achieved by falling outside the traditional methods. SMS has been shown to increase the compliance of patients with SCC appointments.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  In this study, we aimed to evaluate the effect of SMS in the compliance of patients with SCC follow-up visits and smoking cessation success.
  
  
  METHODS
  Case-control study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Our study was a controlled, open, prospective study. We enrolled 436 cases applied to SCC of Yedikule Training and Research Hospital between 01.10.2013-30.06.2014 and agreed to follow-up with SMS. SMS was sent to the patients to remind them of appointments at the SCC and to query their smoking state.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Two hundred-and-eighty seven (65.8%) of the patients were male and 149 (34.2%) were female. The mean age was 45±12 years. In this study, 296 (67.9%) patients had graduated from primary school. Our patients' smoking state was queried by telephone at the 6-month follow-up and we contacted 348 patients. According to this, 88 (25.3%) patients were not smoking, and 260 (74.7%) patients were smokers. Therefore, the smoking cessation rate was 24% (n=60) in patients who did not respond to SMS reminders at all, and 28.6% (n=28) in patients answering any SMS at least once (p=0.377). Smoking cessation rate of the patients invited by SMS but who did not attend any control visits was 19.1%, and it was 34.5% in patients coming to a control visit at least once. This difference was statistically significant (p=0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In our study, there was increased success of smoking cessation in patients coming to control visits. We think that this may result from the possibly increased compliance to SCC appointments following reminders by SMS, and that this may also increase smoking cessation success.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pulmonology, Yedikule Training and Research Hospital for Chest Diseases and Thoracic Surgery, İstanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Seda Tural
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Önür
authors.affiliation: Department of Pulmonology, Yedikule Training and Research Hospital for Chest Diseases and Thoracic Surgery, İstanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Mehmet Atilla
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Uysal
authors.affiliation: Department of Pulmonology, Koç University Hospital, İstanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Sinem
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: İliaz
authors.affiliation: Department of Pulmonology, Yedikule Training and Research Hospital for Chest Diseases and Thoracic Surgery, İstanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Sibel
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yurt
authors.affiliation: Department of Pulmonology, Yedikule Training and Research Hospital for Chest Diseases and Thoracic Surgery, İstanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ayşe
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bahadır
authors.affiliation: Department of Pulmonology, Yedikule Training and Research Hospital for Chest Diseases and Thoracic Surgery, İstanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Didem Görgün
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Hattatoğlu
authors.affiliation: Department of Pulmonology, Yedikule Training and Research Hospital for Chest Diseases and Thoracic Surgery, İstanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Mediha Gönenç
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Ortaköylü
authors.affiliation: Department of Pulmonology, Yedikule Training and Research Hospital for Chest Diseases and Thoracic Surgery, İstanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Belma Akbaba
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Bağcı
authors.affiliation: Department of Pulmonology, Yedikule Training and Research Hospital for Chest Diseases and Thoracic Surgery, İstanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Efsun Gonca Uğur
authors.initials: EG
authors.lastname: Chousein
keywords: Cigarette smoking; counseling; short message service; smoking cessation