WorldWideScience

Sample records for text messaging

  1. Effects of Text Messaging on Academic Performance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Barks Amanda

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available University students frequently send and receive cellular phone text messages during classroominstruction. Cognitive psychology research indicates that multi-tasking is frequently associatedwith performance cost. However, university students often have considerable experience withelectronic multi-tasking and may believe that they can devote necessary attention to a classroomlecture while sending and receiving text messages. In the current study, university students whoused text messaging were randomly assigned to one of two conditions: 1. a group that sent andreceived text messages during a lecture or, 2. a group that did not engage in text messagingduring the lecture. Participants who engaged in text messaging demonstrated significantlypoorer performance on a test covering lecture content compared with the group that did notsend and receive text messages. Participants exhibiting higher levels of text messaging skill hadsignificantly lower test scores than participants who were less proficient at text messaging. It ishypothesized that in terms of retention of lecture material, more frequent task shifting by thosewith greater text messaging proficiency contributed to poorer performance. Overall, the findingsdo not support the view, held by many university students, that this form of multitasking has littleeffect on the acquisition of lecture content. Results provide empirical support for teachers andprofessors who ban text messaging in the classroom.

  2. TXT@WORK: pediatric hospitalists and text messaging.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kuhlmann, Stephanie; Ahlers-Schmidt, Carolyn R; Steinberger, Erik

    2014-07-01

    Many studies assess provider-patient communication through text messaging; however, minimal research has addressed communication among physicians. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the use of text messaging by pediatric hospitalists. A brief, anonymous, electronic survey was distributed through the American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Hospital Medicine Listserv in February 2012. Survey questions assessed work-related text messaging. Of the 106 pediatric hospitalist respondents, 97 met inclusion criteria. Most were female (73%) and had been in practice text messages, some (12%) more than 10 times per shift. More than half (53%) received work-related text messages when not at work. When asked to identify all potential work recipients, most often sent work-related text messages to other pediatric hospitalists (64%), fellows or resident physicians (37%), and subspecialists/consulting physicians (28%). When asked their preferred mode for brief communication, respondents' preferences varied. Many (46%) respondents worried privacy laws can be violated by sending/receiving text messages, and some (30%) reported having received protected health information (PHI) through text messages. However, only 11% reported their institution offered encryption software for text messaging. Physicians were using text messaging as a means of brief, work-related communication. Concerns arose regarding transfer of PHI using unsecure systems and work-life balance. Future research should examine accuracy and effectiveness of text message communication in the hospital, as well as patient privacy issues.

  3. Getting Your Message Across: Mobile Phone Text Messaging

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beecher, Constance C.; Hayungs, Lori

    2017-01-01

    Want to send a message that 99% of your audience will read? Many Extension professionals are familiar with using social media tools to enhance Extension programming. Extension professionals may be less familiar with the use of mobile phone text-based marketing tools. The purpose of this article is to introduce SMS (short message system) marketing…

  4. Using Text-Messaging in the Secondary Classroom

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thomas, Kevin; Orthober, Corrie

    2011-01-01

    To examine the potential uses of and barriers to text-messaging in secondary schools, three classes (66 students) of high school students used their personal mobile phones to receive out of school, course-related text-messages from teachers. Forty-six students (70%) agreed to receive text-messages. Findings indicate that participants found…

  5. A one-way text messaging intervention for obesity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ahn, Ahleum; Choi, Jaekyung

    2016-04-01

    Worldwide, there has been a startling increase in the number of people who are obese or overweight. Obesity increases the risk of cardiovascular disease and overall mortality. Mobile phone messaging is an important means of human communication globally. Because the mobile phone can be used anywhere at any time, mobile phone messaging has the potential to manage obesity. We investigated the effectiveness of a one-way text messaging intervention for obesity. Participants' body mass index and waist circumference were measured at the beginning of the programme and again after 12 weeks. The text message group received text messages about exercise, dietary intake, and general information about obesity three times a week, while the control group did not receive any text messages from the study. Of the 80 participants, 25 subjects in the text message group and 29 participants in the control group completed the study. After adjusting for baseline body mass index, the body mass index was significantly lower in the text message group than in the control group (27.9 vs. 28.3; p = 0.02). After adjusting for the baseline waist circumference, the difference of waist circumference between the text message group and control group was not significant (93.4 vs. 94.6; p = 0.13). The one-way text messaging intervention was a simple and effective way to manage obesity. The one-way text messaging intervention may be a useful method for lifestyle modification in obese subjects. © The Author(s) 2015.

  6. Effects of Text Messaging on Academic Performance

    OpenAIRE

    Barks Amanda; Searight H. Russell; Ratwik Susan

    2011-01-01

    University students frequently send and receive cellular phone text messages during classroominstruction. Cognitive psychology research indicates that multi-tasking is frequently associatedwith performance cost. However, university students often have considerable experience withelectronic multi-tasking and may believe that they can devote necessary attention to a classroomlecture while sending and receiving text messages. In the current study, university students whoused text messaging were ...

  7. Short Message Service (SMS) Texting Symbols: A Functional Analysis of 10,000 Cellular Phone Text Messages

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beasley, Robert E.

    2009-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to investigate the use of symbolic expressions (e.g., "BTW," "LOL," "UR") in an SMS text messaging corpus consisting of over 10,000 text messages. More specifically, the purpose was to determine, not only how frequently these symbolic expressions are used, but how they are utilized in terms of the language functions…

  8. Outpatient blood pressure monitoring using bi-directional text messaging.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anthony, Chris A; Polgreen, Linnea A; Chounramany, James; Foster, Eric D; Goerdt, Christopher J; Miller, Michelle L; Suneja, Manish; Segre, Alberto M; Carter, Barry L; Polgreen, Philip M

    2015-05-01

    To diagnose hypertension, multiple blood pressure (BP) measurements are recommended. We randomized patients into three groups: EMR-only (patients recorded BP measurements in an electronic medical record [EMR] web portal), EMR + reminders (patients were sent text message reminders to record their BP measurements in the EMR), and bi-directional text messaging (patients were sent a text message asking them to respond with their current BP). Subjects were asked to complete 14 measurements. Automated messages were sent to each patient in the bi-directional text messaging and EMR + reminder groups twice daily. Among 121 patients, those in the bi-directional text messaging group reported the full 14 measurements more often than both the EMR-only group (P text messaging is an effective way to gather patient BP data. Text-message-based reminders alone are an effective way to encourage patients to record BP measurements. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  9. Comparing tailored and untailored text messages for smoking cessation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Skov-Ettrup, L S; Ringgaard, L W; Dalum, P

    2014-01-01

    The aim was to compare the effectiveness of untailored text messages for smoking cessation to tailored text messages delivered at a higher frequency. From February 2007 to August 2009, 2030 users of an internet-based smoking cessation program with optional text message support aged 15-25 years were...... of text messages increases quit rates among young smokers....

  10. Manipulative Use of Short Messaging Service (SMS Text Messages by Nigerian Telecommunications Companies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ayoola, Kehinde A.

    2014-02-01

    Full Text Available This paper is an application of Relevance Theory for the interpretation of short messaging service (SMS text messages emanating from Nigerian telecommunications companies to their subscribers. The aim of the research was to identify and describe the manipulative strategies employed by Nigerian telecommunications companies to induce subscribers to part with their money through sales promotion lotteries. 100 SMS texts were purposively extracted from the cell phones of randomly selected residents of Lagos Nigeria who had received promotional SMS text messages from three major Nigerian telecommunications companies. Using Sperber and Wilson's Relevance Theory (1995 as its theoretical framework, the paper described the manipulative use of SMS by Nigerian telecommunications companies. The analysis revealed that SMS text messages were encoded to achieve maximization of relevance through explicature and implicature; contextual implication and strengthening; and the reduction of processing effort through violating the maxim of truthfulness and the creative use of graphology. The paper concludes that SMS text-messages were used manipulatively by Nigerian telecommunications companies to earn indirect income from sales promotion lottery.

  11. Pilot study of psychotherapeutic text messaging for depression.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pfeiffer, Paul N; Henry, Jennifer; Ganoczy, Dara; Piette, John D

    2017-08-01

    Background Text messaging services could increase access to psychotherapeutic content for individuals with depression by avoiding barriers to in-person psychotherapy such as cost, transportation, and therapist availability. Determining whether text messages reflecting different psychotherapeutic techniques exhibit differences in acceptability or effectiveness may help guide service development. Objectives We aimed to determine: (1) the feasibility of delivering a psychotherapy-based text messaging service to people with depression identified via the internet, (2) whether there is variation in satisfaction with messages according to the type of psychotherapeutic technique they represent, and (3) whether symptoms of depression vary according to receipt of each message type and participants' satisfaction with the messages they received. Methods For this study 190 US adults who screened positive for a major depressive episode (Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) score ≥10) were recruited from online advertisements. Participants received a daily psychotherapy-based text message 6 days per week for 12 weeks. Text messages were developed by a team of psychiatrists, psychologists, and social workers to reflect three psychotherapeutic approaches: acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), behavioural activation, and cognitive restructuring. Each week the message type for the week was randomly assigned from one of the three types, allowing for repeats. Participants were asked daily to rate each message. On the 7th day of each week, participants completed a two-item depression screener (PHQ-2). Web-based surveys at baseline, 6, and 12 weeks were used as the primary measure of depressive symptoms (PHQ-9). Results Of the 190 participants enrolled, 85 (45%) completed the 6-week web survey and 67 (35%) completed the 12-week survey. The mean baseline PHQ-9 score was 19.4 (SD 4.2) and there was a statistically significant mean improvement in PHQ-9 scores of -2.9 (SD 6.0; p

  12. Text messaging-based smoking cessation intervention: a narrative review.

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    Kong, Grace; Ells, Daniel M; Camenga, Deepa R; Krishnan-Sarin, Suchitra

    2014-05-01

    Smoking cessation interventions delivered via text messaging on mobile phones may enhance motivations to quit smoking. The goal of this narrative review is to describe the text messaging interventions' theoretical contents, frequency and duration, treatment outcome, and sample characteristics such as age and motivation to quit, to better inform the future development of this mode of intervention. Studies were included if text messaging was primarily used to deliver smoking cessation intervention and published in English in a peer-reviewed journal. All articles were coded by two independent raters to determine eligibility and to extract data. Twenty-two studies described 15 text messaging interventions. About half of the interventions recruited adults (ages 30-40) and the other half targeted young adults (ages 18-29). Fourteen interventions sent text messages during the quit phase, 10 had a preparation phase and eight had a maintenance phase. The number of text messages and the duration of the intervention varied. All used motivational messages grounded in social cognitive behavioral theories, 11 used behavioral change techniques, and 14 used individually tailored messages. Eleven interventions also offered other smoking cessation tools. Three interventions yielded smoking cessation outcomes greater than the control condition. The proliferation of text messaging in recent years suggests that text messaging interventions may have the potential to improve smoking cessation rates. Detailed summary of the interventions suggests areas for future research and clinical application. More rigorous studies are needed to identify components of the interventions that can enhance their acceptability, feasibility and efficacy. Copyright © 2013. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  13. Undergraduates' Text Messaging Language and Literacy Skills

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grace, Abbie; Kemp, Nenagh; Martin, Frances Heritage; Parrila, Rauno

    2014-01-01

    Research investigating whether people's literacy skill is being affected by the use of text messaging language has produced largely positive results for children, but mixed results for adults. We asked 150 undergraduate university students in Western Canada and 86 in South Eastern Australia to supply naturalistic text messages and to complete…

  14. Bidirectional Text Messaging to Improve Adherence to Recommended Lipid Testing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baldwin, Laura-Mae; Morrison, Caitlin; Griffin, Jonathan; Anderson, Nick; Edwards, Kelly; Green, Jeff; Waldren, Cleary; Reiter, William

    2017-01-01

    Synergies between technology and health care in the United States are accelerating, increasing opportunities to leverage these technologies to improve patient care. This study was a collaboration between an academic study team, a rural primary care clinic, and a local nonprofit informatics company developing tools to improve patient care through population management. Our team created a text messaging management tool, then developed methods for and tested the feasibility of bidirectional text messaging to remind eligible patients about the need for lipid testing. We measured patient response to the text messages, then interviewed 8 patients to explore their text messaging experience. Of the 129 patients the clinic was able to contact by phone, 29.4% had no cell phone or text-messaging capabilities. An additional 20% refused to participate. Two thirds of the 28 patients who participated in the text messaging intervention (67.9%) responded to at least 1 of the up to 3 messages. Seven of 8 interviewed patients had a positive text-messaging experience. Bidirectional text messaging is a feasible and largely acceptable form of communication for test reminders that has the potential to reach large numbers of patients in clinical care. © Copyright 2017 by the American Board of Family Medicine.

  15. Motivating Smoking Cessation Text Messages: Perspectives from Pregnant Smokers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schindler-Ruwisch, Jennifer M; Leavitt, Leah E; Macherelli, Laura E; Turner, Monique M; Abroms, Lorien C

    2018-06-01

    The purpose of this research is to analyze cessation text-messages written by pregnant smokers to elucidate the target population's preferred content and message attributes. To achieve this goal, the objectives of this study are three-fold; to qualitatively code messages written by pregnant smokers for frame, type of appeal, and intended target. Study participants were recruited as part of a larger trial of pregnant smokers who were enrolled in a text-messaging program or control group and surveyed 1 month post-enrollment. Each participant was asked to write a brief message to another pregnant smoker and two independent coders qualitatively analyzed responses. User generated messages (N = 51) were equally loss and gain framed, and the most common appeals were: fear, guilt, cognitive, hope and empathy, in order of most to least frequent. The target of the majority of the messages was the baby. Allowing pregnant smokers to write cessation text-messages for other pregnant women can provide relevant insight into intervention content. Specifically, pregnant smokers appear to equally promote gain and loss frames, but may prefer messages that include components of fear and guilt related to the impact of smoking on their baby. Additional research is needed to systematically uncover perspectives of pregnant smokers to ensure interventions are optimally effective.

  16. Text messages as a learning tool for midwives | Woods | South ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The use of cell phone text messaging to improve access to continuing ... with 50 of the message recipients, demonstrated that the text messages were well received by ... services, such as the management of HIV-infected children and adults.

  17. Exploring the use of text and instant messaging in higher education classrooms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sharon Lauricella

    2013-09-01

    Full Text Available This article examined how higher education students used text and instant messaging for academic purposes with their peers and faculty. Specifically, comfort level, frequency of use, usefulness, reasons for messaging and differences between peer-to-peer and peer-to-instructor interactions were examined. Students noted that they were very comfortable with using both text and instant messaging. Text messaging was used weekly with instructors and daily with peers. Instant messaging was used rarely with instructors but weekly with peers. Students rated text messaging as very useful and instant messaging as moderately useful for academic purposes. Key reasons cited for using both text and instant messaging included saving time, resolving administrative issues, convenience and ease of use. Text messaging appears to be the preferred mode of communication for students with respect to communicating with both peers and instructors. It is concluded that both text and instant messaging are useful and viable tools for augmenting student's communication among peers and faculty in higher education.

  18. The BlackBerry Project: Capturing the Content of Adolescents’ Text Messaging

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    Underwood, Marion K.; Rosen, Lisa H.; More, David; Ehrenreich, Sam; Gentsch, Joanna K.

    2011-01-01

    This brief report presents an innovative method for capturing the content of adolescents’ electronic communication on handheld devices: text messaging, email, and Instant Messaging. In an ongoing longitudinal study, adolescents were provided with BlackBerry devices with service plans paid by the investigators, and use of text messaging was examined when participants were 15 years old and in the 10th grade (N=175, 81 girls). BlackBerries are configured so that the content of all text messages, email messages, and Instant Messages is saved to a secure server and organized in a highly secure, searchable, online archive. This paper describes the technology used to devise this method and ethical considerations. Evidence for validity is presented, including information on use of text messaging to show that participants used these devices heavily and frequencies of profane and sexual language in a two-day sample of text messaging to demonstrate that they were communicating openly. PMID:22004337

  19. Smoking Cessation Following Text Message Intervention in Pregnant Women.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Forinash, Alicia B; Yancey, Abigail; Chamness, Danielle; Koerner, Jamie; Inteso, Christina; Miller, Collin; Gross, Gilad; Mathews, Katherine

    2018-06-01

    Smoking during pregnancy has detrimental effects on mother and fetus. Text messaging has been utilized to improve patient care. To evaluate the impact of text messaging on smoking cessation rates among pregnant women in addition to standard of care (SOC) smoking cessation services. Our SOC includes pharmacist-driven education with or without nicotine patch or bupropion. This randomized, open-label, prospective trial was conducted at a maternal fetal care center from May 2014 to January 2016. Pregnant patients in the preparation stage of change were randomized to text messaging or SOC. The primary outcome was smoking cessation verified with exhaled carbon monoxide levels (eCO) 2 weeks from quit date. All received clinical pharmacist weekly calls for 3 weeks and biweekly visits until pharmacotherapy completion. The text messaging group also received predetermined motivational messages. Of 49 randomized patients, 13 withdrew, and 6 were lost to follow-up. The remaining included 14 texting and 16 SOC patients. eCO-verified cessation was achieved by 57.1% in the texting group versus 31.3% in the control ( P = 0.153). Overall, 64.3% of the texting group achieved an eCO below 8 ppm at ≥1 visit versus 37.5% in the control group ( P = 0.143). No difference was found in birth outcomes. The study was underpowered because of slow enrollment and high drop-out rates. Text messaging had minimal impact on improving smoking cessation rates in the obstetric population. However, further research is warranted because of the underpowered nature of this trial. Given the detrimental effects of smoking in pregnancy, more comprehensive cessation strategies are warranted.

  20. A one-mode-for-all predictor for text messaging

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vimala Balakrishnan

    2011-08-01

    Full Text Available This paper discusses the enhancements made on the current mobile phone messaging software, namely the predictive text entry. In addition, the application also has a facility to abbreviate any unabbreviated words that exist in the dictionary, so that the message length can be reduced. The application was tested in a computer-simulated mobile environment and the results of the tests are presented here. These additional features will potentially enable users to send messages at a reduced length and thus reduce the cost of sending messages. Moreover, users who are not adept in using the abbreviations can now do so with features made available on their mobile phones. It is believed that these additional features will also encourage more users to use the predictive software as well as further improve users’ messaging satisfaction.

  1. MORPHOLOGICAL STRATEGIES IN TEXT MESSAGING AMONG ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Text messaging is the application of abridged morphological forms in order ... the emergence of the Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) in the world. ... Our thesis statement is that these morphological patterns as used in SMS are ...

  2. Analysis Of Aspects Of Messages Hiding In Text Environments

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    Afanasyeva Olesya

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available In the work are researched problems, which arise during hiding of messages in text environments, being transmitted by electronic communication channels and the Internet. The analysis of selection of places in text environment (TE, which can be replaced by word from the message is performed. Selection and replacement of words in the text environment is implemented basing on semantic analysis of text fragment, consisting of the inserted word, and its environment in TE. For implementation of such analysis is used concept of semantic parameters of words coordination and semantic value of separate word. Are used well-known methods of determination of values of these parameters. This allows moving from quality level to quantitative level analysis of text fragments semantics during their modification by word substitution. Invisibility of embedded messages is ensured by providing preset values of the semantic cooperation parameter deviations.

  3. Texting Styles and Information Change of SMS Text Messages in Filipino

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cabatbat, Josephine Jill T.; Tapang, Giovanni A.

    2013-02-01

    We identify the different styles of texting in Filipino short message service (SMS) texts and analyze the change in unigram and bigram frequencies due to these styles. Style preference vectors for sample texts were calculated and used to identify the style combination used by an average individual. The change in Shannon entropy of the SMS text is explained in light of a coding process.

  4. What's in a message? Delivering sexual health promotion to young people in Australia via text messaging

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hellard Margaret E

    2010-12-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Advances in communication technologies have dramatically changed how individuals access information and communicate. Recent studies have found that mobile phone text messages (SMS can be used successfully for short-term behaviour change. However there is no published information examining the acceptability, utility and efficacy of different characteristics of health promotion SMS. This paper presents the results of evaluation focus groups among participants who received twelve sexual health related SMS as part of a study examining the impact of text messaging for sexual health promotion to on young people in Victoria, Australia. Methods Eight gender-segregated focus groups were held with 21 males and 22 females in August 2008. Transcripts of audio recordings were analysed using thematic analysis. Data were coded under one or more themes. Results Text messages were viewed as an acceptable and 'personal' means of health promotion, with participants particularly valuing the informal language. There was a preference for messages that were positive, relevant and short and for messages to cover a variety of topics. Participants were more likely to remember and share messages that were funny, rhymed and/or tied into particular annual events. The message broadcasting, generally fortnightly on Friday afternoons, was viewed as appropriate. Participants said the messages provided new information, a reminder of existing information and reduced apprehension about testing for sexually transmitted infections. Conclusions Mobile phones, in particular SMS, offer health promoters an exciting opportunity to engage personally with a huge number of individuals for low cost. The key elements emerging from this evaluation, such as message style, language and broadcast schedule are directly relevant to future studies using SMS for health promotion, as well as for future health promotion interventions in other mediums that require short formats, such

  5. Parent opinions about use of text messaging for immunization reminders.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ahlers-Schmidt, Carolyn Rose; Chesser, Amy K; Paschal, Angelia M; Hart, Traci A; Williams, Katherine S; Yaghmai, Beryl; Shah-Haque, Sapna

    2012-06-06

    Adherence to childhood immunization schedules is a function of various factors. Given the increased use of technology as a strategy to increase immunization coverage, it is important to investigate how parents perceive different forms of communication, including traditional means and text-message reminders. To examine current forms of communication about immunization information, parents' satisfaction levels with these communication modes, perceived barriers and benefits to using text messaging, and the ideal content of text messages for immunization reminders. Structured interviews were developed and approved by two Institutional Review Boards. A convenience sample of 50 parents was recruited from two local pediatric clinics. The study included a demographics questionnaire, the shortened form of the Test of Functional Health Literacy for Adults (S-TOFHLA), questions regarding benefits and barriers of text communication from immunization providers, and preferred content for immunization reminders. Content analyses were performed on responses to barriers, benefits, and preferred content (all Cohen's kappas > 0.70). Respondents were mostly female (45/50, 90%), white non-Hispanic (31/50, 62%), between 20-41 years (mean = 29, SD 5), with one or two children (range 1-9). Nearly all (48/50, 96%) had an S-TOFHLA score in the "adequate" range. All parents (50/50, 100%) engaged in face-to-face contact with their child's physician at appointments, 74% (37/50) had contact via telephone, and none of the parents (0/50, 0%) used email or text messages. Most parents were satisfied with the face-to-face (48/50, 96%) and telephone (28/50, 75%) communication. Forty-nine of the 50 participants (98%) were interested in receiving immunization reminders by text message, and all parents (50/50, 100%) were willing to receive general appointment reminders by text message. Parents made 200 comments regarding text-message reminders. Benefits accounted for 63.5% of comments (127/200). The

  6. Text Messaging Interventions on Cancer Screening Rates: A Systematic Review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Uy, Catherine; Lopez, Jennifer; Trinh-Shevrin, Chau; Kwon, Simona C; Sherman, Scott E; Liang, Peter S

    2017-08-24

    Despite high-quality evidence demonstrating that screening reduces mortality from breast, cervical, colorectal, and lung cancers, a substantial portion of the population remains inadequately screened. There is a critical need to identify interventions that increase the uptake and adoption of evidence-based screening guidelines for preventable cancers at the community practice level. Text messaging (short message service, SMS) has been effective in promoting behavioral change in various clinical settings, but the overall impact and reach of text messaging interventions on cancer screening are unknown. The objective of this systematic review was to assess the effect of text messaging interventions on screening for breast, cervical, colorectal, and lung cancers. We searched multiple databases for studies published between the years 2000 and 2017, including PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library, to identify controlled trials that measured the effect of text messaging on screening for breast, cervical, colorectal, or lung cancers. Study quality was evaluated using the Cochrane risk of bias tool. Our search yielded 2238 citations, of which 31 underwent full review and 9 met inclusion criteria. Five studies examined screening for breast cancer, one for cervical cancer, and three for colorectal cancer. No studies were found for lung cancer screening. Absolute screening rates for individuals who received text message interventions were 0.6% to 15.0% higher than for controls. Unadjusted relative screening rates for text message recipients were 4% to 63% higher compared with controls. Text messaging interventions appear to moderately increase screening rates for breast and cervical cancer and may have a small effect on colorectal cancer screening. Benefit was observed in various countries, including resource-poor and non-English-speaking populations. Given the paucity of data, additional research is needed to better quantify the effectiveness of this promising intervention

  7. Text messaging intervention for teens and young adults with diabetes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Markowitz, Jessica T; Cousineau, Tara; Franko, Debra L; Schultz, Alan T; Trant, Meredith; Rodgers, Rachel; Laffel, Lori M B

    2014-09-01

    Adolescents and young adults use text messaging as their primary mode of communication, thus providing an opportunity to use this mode of communication for mobile health (mHealth) interventions. Youth with diabetes are an important group for these mHealth initiatives, as diabetes management requires an enormous amount of daily effort and this population has difficulty achieving optimal diabetes management. Goal setting and self-efficacy are 2 factors in the management of diabetes. We examined the feasibility of a healthy lifestyle text messaging program targeting self-efficacy and goal setting among adolescents and young adults with diabetes. Participants, ages 16-21, were assigned to either a text messaging group, which received daily motivational messages about nutrition and physical activity, or a control group, which received paper-based information about healthy lifestyle. Both groups set goals for nutrition and physical activity and completed a measure of self-efficacy. Participants' mean age was 18.7 ± 1.6 years old, with diabetes duration of 10.0 ± 4.6 years, and A1c of 8.7 ± 1.7%. The text messaging intervention was rated highly and proved to be acceptable to participants. Self-efficacy, glycemic control, and body mass index did not change over the course of the short, 1-month pilot study. Positive, daily, motivational text messages may be effective in increasing motivation for small goal changes in the areas of nutrition and physical activity. These interventions may be used in the future in youth with diabetes to improve diabetes care. Utilizing more targeted text messages is an area for future research. © 2014 Diabetes Technology Society.

  8. Text Messaging for Addiction: A Review

    Science.gov (United States)

    Keoleian, Victoria; Polcin, Douglas; Galloway, Gantt P.

    2015-01-01

    Individuals seeking treatment for addiction often experience barriers due to cost, lack of local treatment resources, or either school or work schedule conflicts. Text messaging-based addiction treatment is inexpensive and has the potential to be widely accessible in real time. We conducted a comprehensive literature review identifying 11 published randomized controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating text messaging-based interventions for tobacco smoking, 4 studies for reducing alcohol consumption, 1 pilot study in former methamphetamine (MA) users, and 1 study based on qualitative interviews with cannabis users. Abstinence outcome results in RCTs of smokers willing to make a quit attempt have been positive overall in the short term and as far out as at 6 and 12 months. Studies aimed at reducing alcohol consumption have been promising. More data are needed to evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and efficacy of this approach for other substance use problems. PMID:25950596

  9. The BlackBerry Project: Capturing the Content of Adolescents' Text Messaging

    Science.gov (United States)

    Underwood, Marion K.; Rosen, Lisa H.; More, David; Ehrenreich, Samuel E.; Gentsch, Joanna K.

    2012-01-01

    This article presents an innovative method for capturing the content of adolescents' electronic communication on handheld devices: text messaging, e-mail, and instant messaging. In an ongoing longitudinal study, adolescents were provided with BlackBerry devices with service plans paid for by the investigators, and use of text messaging was…

  10. Semi-supervised probabilistics approach for normalising informal short text messages

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Modupe, A

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available The growing use of informal social text messages on Twitter is one of the known sources of big data. These type of messages are noisy and frequently rife with acronyms, slangs, grammatical errors and non-standard words causing grief for natural...

  11. RSA Key Development Using Fingerprint Image on Text Message

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rahman, Sayuti; Triana, Indah; Khairani, Sumi; Yasir, Amru; Sundari, Siti

    2017-12-01

    Along with the development of technology today, humans are very facilitated in accessing information and Communicate with various media, including through the Internet network . Messages are sent by media such as text are not necessarily guaranteed security. it is often found someone that wants to send a secret message to the recipient, but the messages can be known by irresponsible people. So the sender feels dissappointed because the secret message that should be known only to the recipient only becomes known by the irresponsible people . It is necessary to do security the message by using the RSA algorithm, Using fingerprint image to generate RSA key.This is a solution to enrich the security of a message,it is needed to process images firstly before generating RSA keys with feature extraction.

  12. A Wireless Text Messaging System Improves Communication for Neonatal Resuscitation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hughes Driscoll, Colleen A; Schub, Jamie A; Pollard, Kristi; El-Metwally, Dina

    Handoffs for neonatal resuscitation involve communicating critical delivery information (CDI). The authors sought to achieve ≥95% communication of CDI during resuscitation team requests. CDI included name of caller, urgency of request, location of delivery, gestation of fetus, status of amniotic fluid, and indication for presence of the resuscitation team. Three interventions were implemented: verbal scripted handoff, Spök text messaging, and Engage text messaging. Percentages of CDI communications were analyzed using statistical process control. Following implementation of Engage, the communication of all CDI, except for indication, was ≥95%; communication of indication occurred 93% of the time. Control limits for most CDI were narrower with Engage, indicating greater reliability of communication compared to the verbal handoff and Spök. Delayed resuscitation team arrival, a countermeasure, was not higher with text messaging compared to verbal handoff ( P = 1.00). Text messaging improved communication during high-risk deliveries, and it may represent an effective tool for other delivery centers.

  13. Associations among Text Messaging, Academic Performance, and Sexual Behaviors of Adolescents

    Science.gov (United States)

    Perry, Raymond C. W.; Braun, Rebecca A.; Cantu, Michelle; Dudovitz, Rebecca N.; Sheoran, Bhupendra; Chung, Paul J.

    2014-01-01

    Background: Text messaging is an increasingly common mode of communication, especially among adolescents, and frequency of texting may be a measure of one's sociability. This study examined how text messaging ("texting") frequency and academic performance are associated with adolescent sexual behaviors. Methods: A cross-sectional survey…

  14. Text2Floss: the feasibility and acceptability of a text messaging intervention to improve oral health behavior and knowledge.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hashemian, Tony S; Kritz-Silverstein, Donna; Baker, Ryan

    2015-01-01

    Text messaging is useful for promoting numerous health-related behaviors. The Text2Floss Study examines the feasibility and utility of a 7-day text messaging intervention to improve oral health knowledge and behavior in mothers of young children. Mothers were recruited from a private practice and a community clinic. Of 156 mothers enrolled, 129 randomized into text (n = 60) and control groups (n = 69) completed the trial. Participants in the text group received text messages for 7 days, asking about flossing and presenting oral health information. Oral health behaviors and knowledge were surveyed pre- and post-intervention. At baseline, there were no differences between text and control group mothers in knowledge and behaviors (P > 0.10). Post-intervention, text group mothers flossed more (P = 0.01), had higher total (P = 0.0006) and specific (P Text messages were accepted and perceived as useful. Mothers receiving text messages improved their own oral health behaviors and knowledge as well as their behaviors regarding their children's oral health. Text messaging represents a viable method to improve oral health behaviors and knowledge. Its high acceptance may make it useful for preventing oral disease. © 2014 American Association of Public Health Dentistry.

  15. Sequential organization of text messages and mobile phone calls in interconnected communication sequences

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Laursen, D.

    2012-01-01

    This article investigates how text messages and mobile phone calls interrelate as parts of continuous communication sequences. Based on the recorded mobile communication of 14-year-olds in Denmark and a conversation-analytic approach, the article will show that after a text message in a continuous....../promise of a call). In itself, the change from text message to conversation requires no interactional efforts from the participants. However, changes of mode are related to the different communicative possibilities the text message and the phone call offer: text messages and calls have distinct formal qualities...

  16. College Students' Text Messaging, Use of Textese and Literacy Skills

    Science.gov (United States)

    Drouin, M. A.

    2011-01-01

    In this study, I examined reported frequency of text messaging, use of textese and literacy skills (reading accuracy, spelling and reading fluency) in a sample of American college students. Participants reported using text messaging, social networking sites and textese more often than was reported in previous (2009) research, and their frequency…

  17. Mobile phone text messaging improves antihypertensive drug adherence in the community.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Varleta, Paola; Acevedo, Mónica; Akel, Carlos; Salinas, Claudia; Navarrete, Carlos; García, Ana; Echegoyen, Carolina; Rodriguez, Daniel; Gramusset, Lissette; Leon, Sandra; Cofré, Pedro; Retamal, Raquel; Romero, Katerine

    2017-12-01

    Antihypertensive drug adherence (ADA) is a mainstay in blood pressure control. Education through mobile phone short message system (SMS) text messaging could improve ADA. The authors conducted a randomized study involving 314 patients with hypertension with Text messaging intervention improved ADA (risk ratio, 1.3; 95% confidence interval, 1.0-1.6 [Ptext messaging resulted in an increase in reporting ADA in this hypertensive Latino population. This approach could become an effective tool to overcome poor medication adherence in the community. ©2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  18. Children's Text Messaging: Abbreviations, Input Methods and Links with Literacy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kemp, N.; Bushnell, C.

    2011-01-01

    This study investigated the effects of mobile phone text-messaging method (predictive and multi-press) and experience (in texters and non-texters) on children's textism use and understanding. It also examined popular claims that the use of text-message abbreviations, or "textese" spelling, is associated with poor literacy skills. A sample of 86…

  19. A Text Messaging Intervention to Support Option B+ in Kenya: A Qualitative Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Musoke, Pamela; Gakumo, C Ann; Abuogi, Lisa L; Akama, Eliud; Bukusi, Elizabeth; Helova, Anna; Nalwa, Wafula Z; Onono, Mariciannah; Spangler, Sydney A; Wanga, Iris; Turan, Janet M

    Key challenges in providing lifelong antiretroviral therapy (ART) to pregnant and breastfeeding women (Option B+) in sub-Saharan Africa include achieving long-term adherence and retention in care. One intervention that may help address these challenges is mobile text messaging. We evaluated the acceptability of a text messaging intervention to support women's ART adherence and retention in care in rural western Kenya. Forty in-depth interviews with 20 pregnant/postpartum women infected with HIV, their male partners, and four focus groups with 30 health care providers were conducted during September-November 2014. Data were coded and analyzed using thematic analysis. Findings revealed the following themes: (a) overall acceptability of the text messaging intervention; (b) proposed content of text messages; (c) format, timing, and language of text messages; and (d) potential challenges of the text messaging intervention. Findings were used to refine a text messaging intervention being evaluated at Kenyan study sites rolling out Option B+. Copyright © 2017 Association of Nurses in AIDS Care. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  20. Syntactic Aspects in Text Messages of University of Zimbabwe Students

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Leslei Kahari

    2013-11-01

    Full Text Available This study is a syntactic analysis of text messages in English language used by University of Zimbabwe students. The study specifically focuses on sentences where there are omissions of pronouns, auxiliary verbs and where contractions occur. The study also analyzes the impact of sociolinguistic variables on the sentence structure of English language in text messages. The fifty respondents’ forwarded two messages each from their sent items on their cell phones to the researcher and to understand the factors triggering the syntactic structures the researcher carried out unstructured interviews. The data collected showed that cell phone texting has indeed been affected by the socio-economic factors and these factors trigger omissions of important elements of English language sentence structure such as ,pronouns, auxiliary verbs and contraction of phrases.

  1. Gendered, Bilingual Communication Practices: Mobile text-messaging among Hong Kong College Students

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Angel Lin

    2005-01-01

    Full Text Available Mobile text messaging—variously known as SMS (short message service, text messaging, or texting—has become a common means of keeping in constant touch, especially among young people, in many parts of the world today. The research literature abounds with studies on the social, cultural, and communicative aspects of mobile text messaging in different sociocultural contexts in the world. In this paper, current theoretical positions in the research literature on mobile communication will be summarized and then findings of a pilot study on the mobile text-messaging practices of university students in Hong Kong will be reported. Implications for emerging bilingual and bicultural identities and gendered sociality practices among Hong Kong young people will be discussed.

  2. Patient perceptions of text-messages, email, and video in dermatologic surgery patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hawkins, Spencer D; Barilla, Steven; Williford, Phillip Williford M; Feldman, Steven R; Pearce, Daniel J

    2017-04-14

    We developed dermatology patient education videos and a post-operative text message service that could be accessed universally via web based applications. A secondary outcome of the study was to assess patient opinions of text-messages, email, and video in the health care setting which is reported here. An investigator-blinded, randomized, controlled intervention was evaluated in 90 nonmelanoma MMS patients at Wake Forest Baptist Dermatology. Patients were randomized 1:1:1:1 for exposure to: 1) videos with text messages, 2) videos only, 3) text messages-only, or 4) standard of care. Assessment measures were obtained by the use of REDCap survey questions during the follow up visit. 1) 67% would like to receive an email with information about the procedure beforehand 2) 98% of patients reported they would like other doctors to use educational videos as a form of patient education 3) 88% of our patients think it is appropriate for physicians to communicate to patients via text message in certain situations. Nearly all patients desired physicians to use text-messages and video in their practice and the majority of patients preferred to receive an email with information about their procedure beforehand.

  3. Text messaging for sexual communication and safety among African American young adults.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Broaddus, Michelle R; Dickson-Gomez, Julia

    2013-10-01

    African American young adults are at high risk of HIV infection during their lifetimes, and the male condom remains the best method of prevention. Efforts to increase condom use should address the barrier of condom negotiation. We conducted a thematic analysis of qualitative, semistructured interviews with African American young adults to examine their use of text messaging for requesting human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or sexually transmitted infection (STI) testing and condom use within the larger context of general sexual communication using text messages. Text messaging gave participants a level of comfort and disinhibition to discuss sexual topics and negotiate sexual safety. Benefits of text messages included ease of communication, privacy, and increased ability to express condom desires. Difficulties reflected the potential relationship implications of suggesting HIV/STI testing and condom use. Condom negotiation strategies using text messages also mirrored those found to be used in face-to-face communication.

  4. HealthyhornsTXT: A Text-Messaging Program to Promote College Student Health and Wellness.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Glowacki, Elizabeth M; Kirtz, Susan; Hughes Wagner, Jessica; Cance, Jessica Duncan; Barrera, Denise; Bernhardt, Jay M

    2018-01-01

    Text-messaging interventions positively affect health behaviors, but their use on college campuses has been limited. Text messaging serves as a relatively affordable way to communicate with large audiences and is one of the preferred modes of communication for young adults. This study examined the feasibility and acceptability of a campus-wide, health text-messaging program. The subscriber pool consisted of approximately 6,000 undergraduate students from a large, southern university. From that pool, 1,095 participants (64% female; 41% White) completed a posttest survey. Text messages covered a range of health topics and information about campus resources. Research was conducted from August through December 2015. Process data were collected throughout the semester; participants' attitudes were assessed via an online survey at the program's conclusion. Students demonstrated engagement with the messages throughout the semester as evidenced by replies to text-back keywords and clicks on website links embedded within messages. Messages about sleep, stress management, and hydration were considered most relevant. The majority of participants (61%) reported increased awareness regarding their health. Text-messaging interventions are a feasible strategy to improve college student health.

  5. A Cognitive Behavioral Therapy-Based Text Messaging Intervention for Methamphetamine Dependence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Keoleian, Victoria; Stalcup, S. Alex; Polcin, Douglas L.; Brown, Michelle; Galloway, Gantt

    2013-01-01

    Psychosocial treatments for methamphetamine dependence are of limited effectiveness. Thus, a significant need exists for add-on therapy for this substance user disorder. The aim of this study was to develop and test a novel text messaging intervention for use as an adjunct to cognitive behavioral group therapy for methamphetamine users. Text messaging has the potential to support patients in real-time, around the clock. We convened 2 meetings of an expert panel, held 3 focus groups in current and former users, and conducted 15 semi-structured interviews with in-treatment users in order to develop a fully-automated, cognitive behavioral therapy-based text messaging intervention. We then conducted a randomized, crossover pre-test in 5 users seeking treatment. Participants’ ratings of ease of use and functionality of the system were high. During the pre-test we performed real-time assessments via text messaging on daily methamphetamine use, craving levels, and the perceived usefulness of messages; 79% of scheduled assessments were collected. The odds of messages being rated as “very” or “extremely” useful were 6.6 times [95% CI: 2.2, 19.4] higher in the active vs. placebo periods. The intervention is now ready for testing in randomized clinical trials. PMID:24592670

  6. Evaluating opportunities for text message communication: a survey of parents and teens.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ahlers-Schmidt, Carolyn R; Jones, Jordan T; Chesser, Amy; Weeks, Kerri

    2013-09-01

    Text messaging is a widespread, cost-effective method for communicating. It is widely used by both parents and teens. The study objective was to survey teens and their parents to assess the capability and willingness of teens to receive healthcare-related text messages from their physician. Parents and teens (12-17 years old) at an adolescent clinic were asked to complete surveys. Surveys were available in hard copy or electronically (via Survey Monkey) using computer kiosks in the waiting room. Approval was received from two local Institutional Review Boards. Of the 93 pairs who began the survey, 47 pairs (51%) qualified and completed both the teen and parent surveys. Over 85% of teens were willing to receive texts from their doctor. Teens were most interested in appointment reminders (81%), immunization reminders (53%), and general test results (for example, strep [53%]). Parents' willingness to allow teens to receive text messages directly varied by content. Many parents preferred to also receive a copy of any text message sent to their teen. Both parents and teens endorse using text messages for appointment reminders. Parents appear willing for their teens to receive some health information directly. Future research should evaluate the efficacy of using text messages for communication with teens to improve care and utilization of services for adolescents.

  7. Text messaging in health care: a systematic review of impact studies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yeager, Valerie A; Menachemi, Nir

    2011-01-01

    Studies suggest text messaging is beneficial to health care; however, no one has synthesized the overall evidence on texting interventions. In response to this need, we conducted a systematic review of the impacts of text messaging in health care. PubMed database searches and subsequent reference list reviews sought English-language, peer-reviewed studies involving text messaging in health care. Commentaries, conference proceedings, and feasibilities studies were excluded. Data was extracted using an article coding sheet and input into a database for analysis. Of the 61 papers reviewed, 50 articles (82%) found text messaging had a positive effect on the primary outcome. Average sample sizes in articles reporting positive findings (n=813) were significantly larger than those that did not find a positive impact (n=178) on outcomes (p = 0.032). Articles were categorized into focal groups as follows: 27 articles (44.3%) investigated the impact of texting on disease management, 24 articles (39.3%) focused texting's impact to public health related outcomes, and 10 articles (16.4%) examined texting and its influence on administrative processes. Articles in focal groups differed by the purpose of the study, direction of the communication, and where they were published, but not in likelihood of reporting a positive impact from texting. Current evidence indicates that text messaging health care interventions are largely beneficial clinically, in public health related uses, and in terms of administrative processes. However, despite the promise of these findings, literature gaps exist, especially in primary care settings, across geographic regions and with vulnerable populations.

  8. Two-way text messaging: an interactive mobile learning environment in higher education

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    H.K. Salinda Premadasa

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available Short messaging service (SMS is perhaps the most popular mobile technology prevalent among students in higher education due to its ubiquitous nature and the capability of two-way communication. However, a major limitation in two-way text messaging is sending back a part of received data with the reply message. This limitation results in users of a mobile learning environment being unable to reply back to the correct destination. This article presents a two-way text messaging system that can be integrated into a learning management system (LMS to provide an interactive learning experience to the user community. Initially, a database is integrated into the LMS that holds message information such as recipient's phone number, message body and user data header. A specific port associated with the SMS is used to conceal and exchange data of a particular course unit. Subsequently, software in the student's mobile device captures this message and sends back the reply message to the appropriate course unit allowing both teachers and students to view messages sent and replies received pertaining to a particular course. Results indicate the educational impact of the proposed system in improving the learning environment and benefits it offers to the community in a campus-wide implementation.

  9. Politeness Strategies Used in Text Messaging

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shahrzad Eshghinejad

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available One aspect of short message service (SMS communication through a cell phone is use of politeness strategies. As it is extensively argued that females are more polite language users, the present study sought to describe the strategies used by these two groups and to find out whether there is any significant difference between male and female English as a foreign language (EFL learners in the use of positive and negative politeness strategies in sending SMS to their professors, considering that there is an asymmetric power relation and social distance between them. To this end, a corpus of 300 L1 (Persian and L2 (English request messages was compiled. Results of qualitative and quantitative data analysis showed no significant difference between the two groups. Results of the study have implication in politeness research.

  10. Gendered, Bilingual Communication Practices: Mobile text-messaging among Hong Kong College Students

    OpenAIRE

    Angel Lin

    2005-01-01

    Mobile text messaging—variously known as SMS (short message service), text messaging, or texting—has become a common means of keeping in constant touch, especially among young people, in many parts of the world today. The research literature abounds with studies on the social, cultural, and communicative aspects of mobile text messaging in different sociocultural contexts in the world. In this paper, current theoretical positions in the research literature on mobile communication will be summ...

  11. Two-way text messaging: an interactive mobile learning environment in higher education

    OpenAIRE

    Premadasa, H. K. Salinda; Meegama, R. G. N.

    2016-01-01

    Short messaging service (SMS) is perhaps the most popular mobile technology prevalent among students in higher education due to its ubiquitous nature and the capability of two-way communication. However, a major limitation in two-way text messaging is sending back a part of received data with the reply message. This limitation results in users of a mobile learning environment being unable to reply back to the correct destination. This article presents a two-way text messaging system that can ...

  12. One-way versus two-way text messaging on improving medication adherence: meta-analysis of randomized trials.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wald, David S; Butt, Shahena; Bestwick, Jonathan P

    2015-10-01

    Mobile telephone text messaging is a simple potential solution to the failure to take medications as directed. There is uncertainty over the effectiveness of 1-way text messaging (sending text message reminders only) compared with 2-way text messaging (sending reminders and receiving replies confirming whether medication has been taken) as a means of improving medication adherence. A meta-analysis of 8 randomized trials (1994 patients) that tested the effectiveness of text messaging on medication adherence was performed. The trials were divided into 2 groups: trials using 1-way text messaging versus no text messaging and trials using 2-way text messaging versus no text messaging. The summary estimates of the effect of the 2 methods of text messaging (1-way or 2-way) were compared. The summary relative risk estimate was 1.04 (95% confidence interval, 0.97-1.11) for 1-way text messaging and 1.23 (95% confidence interval, 1.13-1.35) for 2-way text messaging. The difference in effect between the 2 methods was statistically significant (P = .007). Two-way text messaging is associated with substantially improved medication adherence compared with 1-way text messaging. This has important implications in the provision of mobile-based messaging in the management of patients taking medication for the prevention of chronic disease. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  13. Using Text Messages for Critical Real-time Data Capture in the ANISA Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Islam, Mohammad Shahidul; Rahman, Qazi Sadeq-ur; Hossain, Tanvir; Connor, Nicholas E; Hossain, Belal; Rahman, Md Mahmudur; Neogi, Ranjan; Saha, Samir K; El Arifeen, Shams

    2016-05-01

    The Aetiology of Neonatal Infection in South Asia (ANISA) study takes advantage of text messaging technology to record information required for randomizing the study population into a control subcohort. The text message system is also used for monitoring various study activities. When a child-health worker registers a newborn in the study, she sends a text message to a database server containing the study identification number and newborn's age at the time of registration. For each possible serious bacterial infection case, a study physician also sends a text message to the same server with the age of the young infant at the time of illness assessment. Using this information, a computer-based algorithm randomizes the newborn into a control subcohort. Text messages are also sent to alert the study physicians and study supervisors of a possible serious bacterial infection case being referred to health-care facilities. Phlebotomists working at remote specimen collection sites send text messages to the site laboratory personnel before sending the specimens through porters. Real-time data entry and monitoring are challenging for any population-based study conducted in remote areas. Our text messaging system provides an opportunity to overcome this barrier where availability of data entry facilities is limited.

  14. Do Fitness Apps Need Text Reminders? An Experiment Testing Goal-Setting Text Message Reminders to Promote Self-Monitoring.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Shuang; Willoughby, Jessica F

    2018-01-01

    Fitness tracking apps have the potential to change unhealthy lifestyles, but users' lack of compliance is an issue. The current intervention examined the effectiveness of using goal-setting theory-based text message reminders to promote tracking activities on fitness apps. We conducted a 2-week experiment with pre- and post-tests with young adults (n = 50). Participants were randomly assigned to two groups-a goal-setting text message reminder group and a generic text message reminder group. Participants were asked to use a fitness tracking app to log physical activity and diet for the duration of the study. Participants who received goal-setting reminders logged significantly more physical activities than those who only received generic reminders. Further, participants who received goal-setting reminders liked the messages and showed significantly increased self-efficacy, awareness of personal goals, motivation, and intention to use the app. The study shows that incorporating goal-setting theory-based text message reminders can be useful to boost user compliance with self-monitoring fitness apps by reinforcing users' personal goals and enhancing cognitive factors associated with health behavior change.

  15. Physician impressions of using text message technology to increase vaccination compliance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hart, Traci; Ahlers-Schmidt, Carolyn R; Chesser, Amy; Jones, Jordan; Williams, Katherine S; Wittler, Robert R

    2011-01-01

    Immunization schedules are complicated and difficult for parents to remember. Parents are willing to receive text message reminders. However, it is unknown whether physicians are willing to implement such a system. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of a text messaging reminder system from the physician's perspective. Surveys were distributed in the winter of 2009-2010 by e-mail, facsimile, and telephone interview to 149 family physicians and pediatricians who provide immunizations in Sedgwick County, Kansas. A 69% response rate was achieved. Nearly all (92%) respondents reported that they currently communicate information about immunization schedules to parents using traditional methods such as verbal reminders or appointment cards; however, none (0%) currently use text or email to generate reminders to parents. Even when asked to assume they had all of the necessary resources, almost one-third (31%) reported that they were "very unwilling" or "unwilling" to use a general text-messaging program, 43% were "neutral" or "undecided," and only 27% were "willing" or "very willing." Physician willingness to use a text-messaging program was not related to their reported gender (χ²(2)=0.224, p=0.894), specialization (χ² (2)=4.363, p=0.113), years in practice (F(2, 91)=0.435, p=0.149), or comfort level with technology (χ²(4)=1.861, p=0.761). There is a hesitancy to implement a text message reminder system for childhood vaccine schedules. This may be due to the lack of empirical evidence supporting the use of this technology for health reminders or the lack of willingness to implement another system. Further investigation is needed to determine why few physicians are willing to implement text messaging for immunization reminders.

  16. Design Considerations in Developing a Text Messaging Program Aimed at Smoking Cessation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Holtrop, Jodi Summers; Bağci Bosi, A Tülay; Emri, Salih

    2012-01-01

    Background Cell phone text messaging is gaining increasing recognition as an important tool that can be harnessed for prevention and intervention programs across a wide variety of health research applications. Despite the growing body of literature reporting positive outcomes, very little is available about the design decisions that scaffold the development of text messaging-based health interventions. What seems to be missing is documentation of the thought process of investigators in the initial stages of protocol and content development. This omission is of particular concern because many researchers seem to view text messaging as the intervention itself instead of simply a delivery mechanism. Certainly, aspects of this technology may increase participant engagement. Like other interventions, however, the content is a central driver of the behavior change. Objective To address this noted gap in the literature, we discuss the protocol decisions and content development for SMS Turkey (or Cebiniz birakin diyor in Turkish), a smoking cessation text messaging program for adult smokers in Turkey. Methods Content was developed in English and translated into Turkish. Efforts were made to ensure that the protocol and content were grounded in evidence-based smoking cessation theory, while also reflective of the cultural aspects of smoking and quitting in Turkey. Results Methodological considerations included whether to provide cell phones and whether to reimburse participants for texting costs; whether to include supplementary intervention resources (eg, personal contact); and whether to utilize unidirectional versus bidirectional messaging. Program design considerations included how messages were tailored to the quitting curve and one’s smoking status after one’s quit date, the number of messages participants received per day, and over what period of time the intervention lasted. Conclusion The content and methods of effective smoking cessation quitline programs were

  17. Patient-clinician mobile communication: analyzing text messaging between adolescents with asthma and nurse case managers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yoo, Woohyun; Kim, Soo Yun; Hong, Yangsun; Chih, Ming-Yuan; Shah, Dhavan V; Gustafson, David H

    2015-01-01

    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. 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. 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. 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.

  18. Text messaging, pragmatic competence, and affective facilitation in the EFL context: A pilot study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Madeline Haggan

    2010-12-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Since text messaging is a widely popular method of communication among young people, the paper tries to investigate whether it might have some practical application in the EFL classroom. Kuwaiti EFL students asked to render a mixture of text messages written by their peers and native English speakers into Standard English produced a large number and variety of basic language errors. However, native English-speaking judges were unsuccessful in discriminating between the native and non-native English messages. In addition, the EFL text messages showed that the students were effectively able to achieve their pragmatic aims. Text messaging may therefore have some pedagogical use in terms of motivating the learner. This idea is supported by referring to studies in the literature on text messaging which suggest that the medium may not be as linguistically damaging as is commonly thought.

  19. The Effect of Bilingualism on Communication Efficiency in Text Messages (SMS)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carrier, L. Mark; Benitez, Sandra Y.

    2010-01-01

    The widespread use of cell phones has led to the proliferation of messages sent using the Short Messaging Service (SMS). The 160-character limit on text messages encourages the use of shortenings and other shortcuts in language use. When bilingual speakers use SMS, their access to multiple sources of vocabulary, sentence structure, and other…

  20. Combined Quitline Counseling and Text Messaging for Smoking Cessation: A Quasi-Experimental Evaluation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boal, Ashley L; Abroms, Lorien C; Simmens, Samuel; Graham, Amanda L; Carpenter, Kelly M

    2016-05-01

    This study seeks to determine whether comprehensive quitline services combined with text messaging improve smoking cessation rates beyond those achieved by offering comprehensive quitline services alone. The study sample consisted of callers to the Alere Wellbeing, Inc, commercial quitline in 2012. A quasi-experimental design was implemented using propensity score matching to create the intervention and control groups. The intervention group consisted of those who were offered and accepted a text message intervention in addition to usual quitline services, while the control group consisted of those who were not offered the text message intervention. Analyses utilized baseline data collected at intake, program use data (eg, call history and text message use), and reports of smoking behaviors and program satisfaction collected 6 months after intake. Similar rates of 7-day abstinence were reported regardless of whether participants received combined multi-call quitline services plus text messaging (25.3%) or multi-call quitline services in isolation (25.5%), though those who received combined services reported higher treatment satisfaction (P research should investigate whether text messaging programs improve quit rates when combined with less intensive services such as single-call phone counseling. While the impact of quitline and text messaging services for smoking cessation have been examined in isolation, no study has explored the impact of combined services on smoking outcomes. This study examines the role of text messaging in combination with comprehensive quitline services including multi-call phone counseling, access to an interactive website and nicotine replacement therapy. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  1. Patient–Clinician Mobile Communication: Analyzing Text Messaging Between Adolescents with Asthma and Nurse Case Managers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Soo Yun; Hong, Yangsun; Chih, Ming-Yuan; Shah, Dhavan V.; Gustafson, David H.

    2015-01-01

    Abstract 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. Materials and 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. PMID:25401324

  2. Preferred Tone of Nutrition Text Messages for Young Adults: Focus Group Testing

    Science.gov (United States)

    2016-01-01

    Background Young adults are a particularly hard to reach group using conventional health promotion practices as they do not see nutrition messages as personally relevant to them. Text messaging (short message service, SMS) offers an innovative approach to reaching young adults to support and promote dietary behavior change. Objective The aim of this study was to develop and test tonal preferences for nutrition text messages among young adults using focus groups. Methods A total of 39 young adults aged 18-30 years residing in Perth, Western Australia participated in four focus groups. Participants briefly discussed their perception of healthy eating and their responses to messages about increasing fruit and vegetables, and reducing “junk food” and alcohol intake. They ranked their preference for 15 nutrition messages across 3 dietary behaviors (fruit and vegetables, junk food, and alcohol) with 5 different message tones (authoritative, empathetic, generation Y, solutions, and substitutions) and identified the messages most likely to persuade young adults to change their diet. A 5-point ranking of the nutrition messages was from the most likely to least likely to persuade (1-5). The focus groups were conducted by a trained facilitator and observer and were recorded. Data driven content analysis was used to explore themes. Tonal preferences and potential motivators were collated and frequencies presented. Results Participants ranked offering substitutes (29%, 11/39) and using empathy (22%, 9/39) as the most persuasive message techniques in improving diets of young adults, with low responses for Generation Y (17%, 7/39), solutions (17%, 7/39), and authoritative (15%, 6/39) tones. Females were more likely to consider substitution messages persuasive (35%, 7/20) compared with males (22%, 4/19). A greater proportion of males compared with females considered authoritative messages persuasive: (22%, 4/19) compared with (7%, 1/20). There is a strong preference for a

  3. Diabetes education via mobile text messaging.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wangberg, Silje C; Arsand, Eirik; Andersson, Niklas

    2006-01-01

    Living with diabetes makes great educational demands on a family. We have tested the feasibility of using the mobile phone short message service (SMS) for reaching people with diabetes information. We also assessed user satisfaction and perceived pros and cons of the medium through interviews. Eleven parents of children with type 1 diabetes received messages for 11 weeks. The parents were positive about the system and said that they would like to continue to use it. The pop-up reminding effect of SMS messages in busy everyday life was noted as positive. Some parents experienced the messages as somewhat intrusive, arriving too often and at inconvenient times. The parents also noted the potential of the messages to facilitate communication with their adolescent children. The inability to store all of the messages or to print them out were seen as major disadvantages. Overall, the SMS seems to hold promise as means of delivering diabetes information.

  4. Using Text Message Surveys to Evaluate a Mobile Sexual Health Question-and-Answer Service.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Willoughby, Jessica Fitts; L'Engle, Kelly Ladin; Jackson, Kennon; Brickman, Jared

    2018-01-01

    Text message programs for sexual health are becoming increasingly popular as practitioners aim to meet youth on media they use frequently. Two-way mobile health (mHealth) interventions allow for feedback solicitation from participants. This study explores the use of a text message survey to assess demographics and program feedback from users of an adolescent sexual health text message question-and-answer service. Development and feasibility of the short-message service survey are discussed. The text message survey achieved a 43.9% response rate, which is comparable to response rates of surveys conducted via other methods. When compared to respondents who used the service and completed an online in-school questionnaire, text survey respondents were more likely to be female and older. They also reported higher service satisfaction. Results have implications for text message service providers and researchers. This article examines a community application of a new intervention strategy and research methodology.

  5. Text Messaging to Communicate With Public Health Audiences: How the HIPAA Security Rule Affects Practice

    Science.gov (United States)

    Karasz, Hilary N.; Eiden, Amy; Bogan, Sharon

    2013-01-01

    Text messaging is a powerful communication tool for public health purposes, particularly because of the potential to customize messages to meet individuals’ needs. However, using text messaging to send personal health information requires analysis of laws addressing the protection of electronic health information. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Security Rule is written with flexibility to account for changing technologies. In practice, however, the rule leads to uncertainty about how to make text messaging policy decisions. Text messaging to send health information can be implemented in a public health setting through 2 possible approaches: restructuring text messages to remove personal health information and retaining limited personal health information in the message but conducting a risk analysis and satisfying other requirements to meet the HIPAA Security Rule. PMID:23409902

  6. Developing a theory driven text messaging intervention for addiction care with user driven content.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Muench, Frederick; Weiss, Rebecca A; Kuerbis, Alexis; Morgenstern, Jon

    2013-03-01

    The number of text messaging interventions designed to initiate and support behavioral health changes have been steadily increasing over the past 5 years. Messaging interventions can be tailored and adapted to an individual's needs in their natural environment-fostering just-in-time therapies and making them a logical intervention for addiction continuing care. This study assessed the acceptability of using text messaging for substance abuse continuing care and the intervention preferences of individuals in substance abuse treatment in order to develop an interactive mobile text messaging intervention. Fifty individuals enrolled in intensive outpatient substance abuse treatment completed an assessment battery relating to preferred logistics of mobile interventions, behavior change strategies, and types of messages they thought would be most helpful to them at different time points. Results indicated that 98% participants were potentially interested in using text messaging as a continuing care strategy. Participants wrote different types of messages that they perceived might be most helpful, based on various hypothetical situations often encountered during the recovery process. Although individuals tended to prefer benefit driven over consequence driven messages, differences in the perceived benefits of change among individuals predicted message preference. Implications for the development of mobile messaging interventions for the addictions are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved).

  7. Receptivity of African American Adolescents to an HIV-Prevention Curriculum Enhanced by Text Messaging

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cornelius, Judith B.; St Lawrence, Janet S.

    2013-01-01

    PURPOSE This study assessed African American adolescents’ receptivity to an HIV-prevention curriculum enhanced by text messaging. DESIGN AND METHODS Two focus groups were conducted with 14 African American adolescents regarding how an HIV-prevention curriculum could be enhanced for text messaging delivery. RESULTS The adolescents were receptive to the idea of text messaging HIV-prevention information but wanted to receive a maximum of three messages per day during the hours of 4:00–6:00 p.m. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS By taking the findings of this study, nurses, other healthcare providers, and community-based organizations can adapt evidence-based interventions for text messaging delivery to individuals at high risk for HIV infection. PMID:19356206

  8. BrdsNBz: Sexually Experienced Teens More Likely to Use Sexual Health Text Message Service

    Science.gov (United States)

    Willoughby, Jessica Fitts

    2015-01-01

    Text messaging services are becoming an increasingly popular way to provide sexual health information to teens, but little is known about who uses such services. This study assessed whether teens at a greater risk for negative sexual health outcomes use a sexual health text message service. A text message service that connects teens with sexual…

  9. Improving Refill Adherence in Medicare Patients With Tailored and Interactive Mobile Text Messaging: Pilot Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jeong, Erwin W; Feger, Erin; Noble, Harmony K; Kmiec, Magdalen; Prayaga, Ram S

    2018-01-01

    Background Nonadherence is a major concern in the management of chronic conditions such as hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes where patients may discontinue or interrupt their medication for a variety of reasons. Text message reminders have been used to improve adherence. However, few programs or studies have explored the benefits of text messaging with older populations and at scale. In this paper, we present a program design using tailored and interactive text messaging to improve refill rates of partially adherent or nonadherent Medicare members of a large integrated health plan. Objective The aim of this 3-month program was to gain an understanding of whether tailored interactive text message dialogues could be used to improve medication refills in Medicare patients with one or more chronic diseases. Methods We used the mPulse Mobile interactive text messaging solution with partially adherent and nonadherent Medicare patients (ie, over age 65 years or younger with disabilities) of Kaiser Permanente Southern California (KP), a large integrated health plan, and compared refill rates of the text messaging group (n=12,272) to a group of partially adherent or nonadherent Medicare patients at KP who did not receive text messages (nontext messaging group, n=76,068). Both groups were exposed to other forms of refill and adherence outreach including phone calls, secure emails, and robo-calls from December 2016 to February 2017. Results The text messaging group and nontext messaging group were compared using an independent samples t test to test difference in group average of refill rates. There was a significant difference in medication refill rates between the 2 groups, with a 14.07 percentage points higher refill rate in the text messaging group (Pimprove medication refill rates among Medicare patients. These findings also support using interactive text messaging as a cost-effective, convenient, and user-friendly solution for patient engagement

  10. Resident Use of Text Messaging for Patient Care: Ease of Use or Breach of Privacy?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prochaska, Micah T; Bird, Amber-Nicole; Chadaga, Amar; Arora, Vineet M

    2015-11-26

    Short message service (SMS) text messaging is an efficient form of communication and pervasive in health care, but may not securely protect patient information. It is unclear if resident providers are aware of the security concerns of SMS text messaging when communicating about patient care. We sought to compare residents' preferences for SMS text messaging compared with other forms of in-hospital communication when considering security versus ease of use. This study was a cross-sectional multi-institutional survey of internal medicine residents. Residents ranked different communication modalities based on efficiency, ease of use, and security using a Likert scale. Communication options included telephone, email, hospital paging, and SMS text messaging. Respondents also reported whether they had received confidential patient identifiers through any of these modalities. SMS text messaging was preferred by 71.7% (94/131) of respondents because of its efficiency and by 79.8% (103/129) of respondents because of its ease of use. For security, 82.5% (104/126) of respondents preferred the hospital paging system, whereas only 20.6% (26/126) of respondents preferred SMS text messaging for secure communication. In all, 70.9% (93/131) of respondents reported having received patient identifiers (first and/or last name), 81.7% (107/131) reported receiving patient initials, and 50.4% (66/131) reported receiving a patient's medical record number through SMS text messages. Residents prefer in-hospital communication through SMS text messaging because of its ease of use and efficiency. Despite security concerns, the majority of residents reported receiving confidential patient information through SMS text messaging. For providers, it is possible that the benefits of improved in-hospital communication with SMS text messaging and the presumed improvement in the coordination and delivery of patient care outweigh security concerns they may have. The tension between the security and

  11. BrdsNBz: Sexually Experienced Teens More Likely to Use Sexual Health Text Message Service.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Willoughby, Jessica Fitts

    2015-12-01

    Text messaging services are becoming an increasingly popular way to provide sexual health information to teens, but little is known about who uses such services. This study assessed whether teens at a greater risk for negative sexual health outcomes use a sexual health text message service. A text message service that connects teens with sexual health educators was promoted in six public schools in one state in the Southeast. Students (n = 2,125) in four schools completed an online questionnaire assessing personal risk factors associated with negative sexual health outcomes and use of the text message service. Text message service users (n = 144) were more likely to have had sex, to have been in a relationship, and to come from a lower socioeconomic status background. Users also felt less connected to their schools and were slightly older than nonservice users. When all variables were entered into a logistic regression, only sexual experience was associated with service use. Sexual health text message services are designed to provide information to teens in an effort to prevent negative sexual outcomes. Such services seem to be reaching youth with increased risk of teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease acquisition. This study provides evidence that teens most likely to benefit are also those most likely to use a sexual health text message service. © 2015 Society for Public Health Education.

  12. Text Messaging Based Obesity Prevention Program for Parents of Pre-Adolescent African American Girls

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chishinga Callender

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available African American girls are at a greater risk of obesity than their nonminority peers. Parents have the primary control over the home environment and play an important role in the child obesity prevention. Obesity prevention programs to help parents develop an obesity-preventive home environment are needed. The purpose of this study was to collect formative research from parents of 8–10-year old African American girls about perceptions, expectations, and content for a text messaging based program. Mothers (n = 30 participated in surveys and interviews to inform message development and content. A professional expert panel (n = 10 reviewed draft text messages via a survey. All the mothers reported owning a cellphone with an unlimited texting plan, and they used their cellphones for texting (90.0% and accessing the Internet (100.0%. The majority were interested in receiving text messages about healthy eating and physical activity (86.7%. Interviews confirmed survey findings. One hundred and seven text messages promoting an obesity-preventive home environment were developed. The expert panel and parents reported positive reactions to draft text messages. This research provides evidence that mobile health (mHealth interventions appeal to parents of African American girls and they have ready access to the technology with which to support this approach.

  13. The BlackBerry Project: The Hidden World of Adolescents’ Text Messaging and Relations With Internalizing Symptoms

    Science.gov (United States)

    Underwood, Marion K.; Ehrenreich, Samuel E.; More, David; Solis, Jerome S.; Brinkley, Dawn Y.

    2013-01-01

    In this naturalistic study of adolescents’ text messaging, participants (N = 172, 81 girls, age 14) were given BlackBerry devices configured to save their text messages to a secure archive for coding. Two, 2-day transcripts collected four months apart within the same academic year were microcoded for content. Results showed that most text message utterances were positive or neutral, and that adolescents sent text messages primarily to peers and to romantic partners. Only a few sex differences emerged. Frequency of text messages containing negative talk positively predicted overall internalizing symptoms and anxious depression. Text messaging about sex was positively associated with overall internalizing and somatic complaints for girls, but not for boys. PMID:25750494

  14. Two-Way Text Messaging: An Interactive Mobile Learning Environment in Higher Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Premadasa, H. K. Salinda; Meegama, R. G. N.

    2016-01-01

    Short messaging service (SMS) is perhaps the most popular mobile technology prevalent among students in higher education due to its ubiquitous nature and the capability of two-way communication. However, a major limitation in two-way text messaging is sending back a part of received data with the reply message. This limitation results in users of…

  15. A text message intervention for alcohol risk reduction among community college students: TMAP.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bock, Beth C; Barnett, Nancy P; Thind, Herpreet; Rosen, Rochelle; Walaska, Kristen; Traficante, Regina; Foster, Robert; Deutsch, Chris; Fava, Joseph L; Scott-Sheldon, Lori A J

    2016-12-01

    Students at community colleges comprise nearly half of all U.S. college students and show higher risk of heavy drinking and related consequences compared to students at 4-year colleges, but no alcohol safety programs currently target this population. To examine the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of an alcohol risk-reduction program delivered through text messaging designed for community college (CC) students. Heavy drinking adult CC students (N=60) were enrolled and randomly assigned to the six-week active intervention (Text Message Alcohol Program: TMAP) or a control condition of general motivational (not alcohol related) text messages. TMAP text messages consisted of alcohol facts, strategies to limit alcohol use and related risks, and motivational messages. Assessments were conducted at baseline, week 6 (end of treatment) and week 12 (follow up). Most participants (87%) completed all follow up assessments. Intervention messages received an average rating of 6.8 (SD=1.5) on a 10-point scale. At week six, TMAP participants were less likely than controls to report heavy drinking and negative alcohol consequences. The TMAP group also showed significant increases in self-efficacy to resist drinking in high risk situations between baseline and week six, with no such increase among controls. Results were maintained through the week 12 follow up. The TMAP alcohol risk reduction program was feasible and highly acceptable indicated by high retention rates through the final follow up assessment and good ratings for the text message content. Reductions in multiple outcomes provide positive indications of intervention efficacy. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  16. Exploring Pre-Service Teachers' Knowledge of and Ability to Use Text Messaging

    Science.gov (United States)

    Geng, Gretchen; Disney, Leigh

    2014-01-01

    This study aimed to assess the pre-service teachers' knowledge of and ability to use text messaging, and assist their use of this technology in the classroom teaching context. Data were gathered by means of a questionnaire and text message exercises. Fifty-three pre-service teachers participated in the study. It was found that although different…

  17. Feasibility and acceptability of SMS text messaging in a prostate cancer educational intervention for African American men.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Le, Daisy; Holt, Cheryl L; Saunders, Darlene R; Wang, Min Qi; Coriolan, Annie; Savoy, Alma D; Slade, Jimmie L; Muwwakkil, Bettye; Atkinson, Nancy L

    2016-12-01

    African Americans' greater access to mobile phones makes short messaging service technology a promising complement to health promotion interventions. Short messaging service text messages were added to the Men's Prostate Awareness Church Training project, a men's health intervention for African American men. We report on the feasibility and acceptability of the use of short messaging service text messages in the intervention. Short messaging service text messages served as (1) workshop reminders; (2) post-workshop message reinforcement; (3) spiritual/motivational messages; and (4) participant retention. At workshop 4, over 65 percent of participants wished to continue receiving the messages. While there was an increase in recall over time, more than one-third of the participants did not recall receiving the 53 text messages. However, recall was considerably greater among men who attended the Men's Prostate Awareness Church Training workshops. Overall, the inclusion of text messages in health promotion interventions targeting mature African American men was found to be feasible and acceptable. © The Author(s) 2015.

  18. Randomized Trial of a Smartphone Mobile Application Compared to Text Messaging to Support Smoking Cessation

    OpenAIRE

    Buller, David B.; Borland, Ron; Bettinghaus, Erwin P.; Shane, James H.; Zimmerman, Donald E.

    2014-01-01

    Background: Text messaging has successfully supported smoking cessation. This study compares a mobile application with text messaging to support smoking cessation. Materials and Methods: Young adult smokers 18–30 years old (n=102) participated in a randomized pretest–posttest trial. Smokers received a smartphone application (REQ-Mobile) with short messages and interactive tools or a text messaging system (onQ), managed by an expert system. Self-reported usability of REQ-Mobile and qu...

  19. Impact of an Educational Text Message Intervention on Adolescents' Knowledge and High-Risk Behaviors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hickman, Nichole Erin; Schaar, Gina

    2018-03-01

    Health care providers need to develop improved methods of educating adolescents. This study was developed to evaluate adolescents' responses to and satisfaction with an educational text message intervention to promote healthy behaviors, reduce the incidence of unhealthy behaviors, and prevent high-risk behaviors. Adolescent participants received weekly text messages regarding high-risk sexual behaviors, healthy dietary habits, exercise, drug, or alcohol use, and social issues. Results indicate adolescents learned something new, made a behavioral change, and overall liked the delivery of educational information via text message. This indicates long-term continuation of a text message intervention is a viable means to deliver adolescent health information, thereby improving an adolescent's current and future health status.

  20. Short message service or disService: issues with text messaging in a complex medical environment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Robert; Appel, Lora; Morra, Dante; Lo, Vivian; Kitto, Simon; Quan, Sherman

    2014-04-01

    Hospitals today are experiencing major changes in their clinical communication workflows as conventional numeric paging and face-to-face verbal conversations are being replaced by computer mediated communication systems. In this paper, we highlight the importance of understanding this transition and discuss some of the impacts that may emerge when verbal clinical conversations are replaced by short text messages. In-depth interviews (n=108) and non-participatory observation sessions (n=260h) were conducted on the General Internal Medicine wards at five academic teaching hospitals in Toronto, Canada. From our analysis of the qualitative data, we identified two major themes. De-contextualization of complex issues led to an increase in misinterpretation and an increase in back and forth messaging for clarification. Depersonalization of communication was due to less verbal conversations and face-to-face interactions and led to a negative impact on work relationships. Text-based communication in hospital settings led to the oversimplification of messages and the depersonalization of communication. It is important to recognize and understand these unintended consequences of new technology to avoid the negative impacts to patient care and work relationships. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  1. Can Text Messages Increase Empathy and Prosocial Behavior? The Development and Initial Validation of Text to Connect

    Science.gov (United States)

    Konrath, Sara; Falk, Emily; Fuhrel-Forbis, Andrea; Liu, Mary; Swain, James; Tolman, Richard; Cunningham, Rebecca; Walton, Maureen

    2015-01-01

    To what extent can simple mental exercises cause shifts in empathic habits? Can we use mobile technology to make people more empathic? It may depend on how empathy is measured. Scholars have identified a number of different facets and correlates of empathy. This study is among the first to take a comprehensive, multidimensional approach to empathy to determine how empathy training could affect these different facets and correlates. In doing so, we can learn more about empathy and its multifaceted nature. Participants (N = 90) were randomly assigned to receive either an empathy-building text message program (Text to Connect) or one of two control conditions (active versus passive). Respondents completed measures of dispositional empathy (i.e. self-perceptions of being an empathic person), affective empathy (i.e. motivations to help, immediate feelings of empathic concern), and prosocial behavior (i.e. self-reports and observer-reports) at baseline, and then again after the 14 day intervention period. We found that empathy-building messages increased affective indicators of empathy and prosocial behaviors, but actually decreased self-perceptions of empathy, relative to control messages. Although the brief text messaging intervention did not consistently impact empathy-related personality traits, it holds promise for the use of mobile technology for changing empathic motivations and behaviors. PMID:26356504

  2. Randomized trial of a smartphone mobile application compared to text messaging to support smoking cessation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buller, David B; Borland, Ron; Bettinghaus, Erwin P; Shane, James H; Zimmerman, Donald E

    2014-03-01

    Text messaging has successfully supported smoking cessation. This study compares a mobile application with text messaging to support smoking cessation. Young adult smokers 18-30 years old (n = 102) participated in a randomized pretest-posttest trial. Smokers received a smartphone application (REQ-Mobile) with short messages and interactive tools or a text messaging system (onQ), managed by an expert system. Self-reported usability of REQ-Mobile and quitting behavior (quit attempts, point-prevalence, 30-day point-prevalence, and continued abstinence) were assessed in posttests. Overall, 60% of smokers used mobile services (REQ-Mobile, 61%, mean of 128.5 messages received; onQ, 59%, mean of 107.8 messages), and 75% evaluated REQ-Mobile as user-friendly. A majority of smokers reported being abstinent at posttest (6 weeks, 53% of completers; 12 weeks, 66% of completers [44% of all cases]). Also, 37% (25%of all cases) reported 30-day point-prevalence abstinence, and 32% (22% of all cases) reported continuous abstinence at 12 weeks. OnQ produced more abstinence (ptext messaging. Text messaging may work better because it is simple, well known, and delivered to a primary inbox. These advantages may disappear as smokers become more experienced with new handsets. Mobile phones may be promising delivery platforms for cessation services using either smartphone applications or text messaging.

  3. Using text messages to bridge the intention-behavior gap? A pilot study on the use of text message reminders to increase objectively assessed physical activity in daily life

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andreas Richard Schwerdtfeger

    2012-08-01

    Full Text Available Sedentarism is a serious health concern in industrialized countries throughout the world. We examined whether a text message-based intervention, targeted at increasing daily levels of physical activity, would be more effective than a standard psychoeducational intervention and a control condition. Sixty-three individuals (43 women with a mean age of 23.7 years participated in the study. They were randomly assigned to a psychoeducational standard intervention; an augmented intervention with additional short text messages sent to the mobile phones to remind participants of their action plans, and a control condition. Objectively assessed physical activity and self-efficacy were assessed pre- and post-intervention. Participants in the control condition showed a significant decline in physical activity from pre- assessment to post-assessment, whereas participants in both intervention arms exhibited a slight increase. Moreover, the augmented intervention resulted in a marginally significant increase in self-efficacy, whereas the standard intervention resulted in a significant decrease. The findings suggest that short text messages reminding individuals of their action plans are not more effective than an intervention without text messages, although there seems to be a beneficial effect on self-efficacy, which might facilitate behavior change in the long-term. Challenging aspects of the research design (e.g., reactivity of the assessment protocol are discussed and suggestions for future research are highlighted.

  4. Delivery of Patient-Reported Outcome Instruments by Automated Mobile Phone Text Messaging.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anthony, Christopher A; Lawler, Ericka A; Glass, Natalie A; McDonald, Katelyn; Shah, Apurva S

    2017-11-01

    Patient-reported outcome (PRO) instruments allow patients to interpret their health and are integral in evaluating orthopedic treatments and outcomes. The purpose of this study was to define: (1) correlation between PROs collected by automated delivery of text messages on mobile phones compared with paper delivery; and (2) patient use characteristics of a technology platform utilizing automated delivery of text messages on mobile phones. Paper versions of the 12-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-12) and the short form of the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand (QuickDASH) were completed by patients in orthopedic hand and upper extremity clinics. Over the next 48 hours, the same patients also completed the mobile phone portion of the study outside of the clinic which included text message delivery of the SF-12 and QuickDASH, assigned in a random order. Correlations between paper and text message delivery of the 2 PROs were assessed. Among 72 patients, the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) between the written and mobile phone delivery of QuickDASH was 0.91 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.85-0.95). The ICC between the paper and mobile phone delivery of the SF-12 physical health composite score was 0.88 (95% CI, 0.79-0.93) and 0.86 (95% CI, 0.75-0.92) for the SF-12 mental health composite score. We find that text message delivery using mobile phones permits valid assessment of SF-12 and QuickDASH scores. The findings suggest that software-driven automated delivery of text communication to patients via mobile phones may be a valid method to obtain other PRO scores in orthopedic patients.

  5. Can a text message a week improve breastfeeding?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gallegos, Danielle; Russell-Bennett, Rebekah; Previte, Josephine; Parkinson, Joy

    2014-11-06

    Breastfeeding is recognised as the optimal method for feeding infants with health gains made by reducing infectious diseases in infancy; and chronic diseases, including obesity, in childhood, adolescence and adulthood. Despite this, exclusivity and duration in developed countries remains resistant to improvement. The objectives of this research were to test if an automated mobile phone text messaging intervention, delivering one text message a week, could increase "any" breastfeeding rates and improve breastfeeding self-efficacy and coping. Women were eligible to participate if they were: over eighteen years; had an infant less than three months old; were currently breastfeeding; no diagnosed mental illness; and used a mobile phone. Women in the intervention group received MumBubConnect, a text messaging service with automated responses delivered once a week for 8 weeks. Women in the comparison group received their usual care and were sampled two years after the intervention group. Data collection included online surveys at two time points, week zero and week nine, to measure breastfeeding exclusivity and duration, coping, emotions, accountability and self-efficacy. A range of statistical analyses were used to test for differences between groups. Hierarchical regression was used to investigate change in breastfeeding outcome, between groups, adjusting for co-variates. The intervention group had 120 participants at commencement and 114 at completion, the comparison group had 114 participants at commencement and 86 at completion. MumBubConnect had a positive impact on the primary outcome of breastfeeding behaviors with women receiving the intervention more likely to continue exclusive breastfeeding; with a 6% decrease in exclusive breastfeeding in the intervention group, compared to a 14% decrease in the comparison group (p issues. Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry: ACTRN12614001091695.

  6. Text Messaging (SMS) Helping Cancer Care in Patients Undergoing Chemotherapy Treatment: a Pilot Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rico, Timóteo Matthies; Dos Santos Machado, Karina; Fernandes, Vanessa Pellegrini; Madruga, Samanta Winck; Noguez, Patrícia Tuerlinckx; Barcelos, Camila Rose Guadalupe; Santin, Mateus Madail; Petrarca, Cristiane Rios; Dumith, Samuel Carvalho

    2017-10-09

    Cancer treatment is an extremely stressful life experience that is accompanied by a range of psychological, social, physical, and practical difficulties. Cancer patients need to receive information that helps them to better understand the disease, assists them in decision-making, and helps them deal with treatment. Patients are interested in receiving such information. The degree of satisfaction with the information received has been associated with positive health outcomes, specifically regarding quality of life, severity of side effects, and psychological well-being. This study investigates a method of guiding cancer patients, in relation to outpatient chemotherapy treatment, using SMS (short message service) text messaging. A smartphone application called cHEmotHErApp was developed, and its primary function is to send out SMS text messages with guidance for self-care and emotional support for oncology patients undergoing chemotherapy. Thus, the main objective of this study is to evaluate the acceptance and perception of patients of the receipt of these SMS messages, as well as to evaluate the possible benefits reported by the participants. Adult patients diagnosed with cancer, who started the first outpatient chemotherapy treatment scheme between August and November 2016 at the School Hospital (HE) of the Federal University of Pelotas (UFPel), were invited to participate in this pilot study. In total, 14 cancer patients were adherent to this study. Each of these patients received a daily text message on their cell phone with some guidance on encouraging self-care and emotional support. Patients reported that, because of the SMS text messages they received, they felt more confident in their treatment, felt more supported and encouraged, and that the text messages facilitated self-care. In addition, patients reported that the SMS text messages they received helped them to take better care of themselves and to continue further treatment.

  7. Use of text messaging in general practice: a mixed methods investigation on GPs' and patients' views.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leahy, Dorothy; Lyons, Aoife; Dahm, Matthias; Quinlan, Diarmuid; Bradley, Colin

    2017-11-01

    Text messaging has become more prevalent in general practice as a tool with which to communicate with patients. The main objectives were to assess the extent, growth, and perceived risks and benefits of text messaging by GPs to communicate with patients, and assess patients' attitudes towards receiving text messages from their GP. A mixed methods study, using surveys, a review, and a focus group, was conducted in both urban and rural practices in the south-west of Ireland. A telephone survey of 389 GPs was conducted to ascertain the prevalence of text messaging. Subsequently, the following were also carried out: additional telephone surveys with 25 GPs who use text messaging and 26 GPs who do not, a written satisfaction survey given to 78 patients, a review of the electronic information systems of five practices, and a focus group with six GPs to ascertain attitudes towards text messaging. In total, 38% ( n = 148) of the surveyed GPs used text messaging to communicate with patients and 62% ( n = 241) did not. Time management was identified as the key advantage of text messaging among GPs who used it (80%; n = 20) and those who did not (50%; n = 13). Confidentiality was reported as the principal concern among both groups, at 32% ( n = 8) and 69% ( n = 18) respectively. Most patients (99%; n = 77) were happy to receive text messages from their GP. The GP focus group identified similar issues and benefits in terms of confidentiality and time management. Data were extracted from the IT systems of five consenting practices and the number of text messages sent during the period from January 2013 to March 2016 was generated. This increased by 40% per annum. Collaborative efforts are required from relevant policymakers to address data protection and text messaging issues so that GPs can be provided with clear guidelines to protect patient confidentiality. © British Journal of General Practice 2017.

  8. Enhancing a Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program with text messaging: engaging minority youth to develop TOP ® Plus Text.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Devine, Sharon; Bull, Sheana; Dreisbach, Susan; Shlay, Judith

    2014-03-01

    To develop and pilot a theory-based, mobile phone texting component attractive to minority youth as a supplement to the Teen Outreach Program(®), a youth development program for reducing teen pregnancy and school dropout. We conducted iterative formative research with minority youth in multiple focus groups to explore interest in texting and reaction to text messages. We piloted a month-long version of TOP(®) Plus Text with 96 teens at four sites and conducted a computer-based survey immediately after enrollment and at the end of the pilot that collected information about teens' values, social support, self-efficacy, and behaviors relating to school performance, trouble with the law, and sexual activity. After each of the first three weekly sessions we collected satisfaction measures. Upon completion of the pilot we conducted exit interviews with twelve purposively selected pilot participants. We successfully recruited and enrolled minority youth into the pilot. Teens were enthusiastic about text messages complementing TOP(®). Results also revealed barriers: access to text-capable mobile phones, retention as measured by completion of the post-pilot survey, and a need to be attentive to teen literacy. Piloting helped identify improvements for implementation including offering text messages through multiple platforms so youth without access to a mobile phone could receive messages; rewording texts to allow youth to express opinions without feeling judged; and collecting multiple types of contact information to improve follow-up. Thoughtful attention to social and behavioral theory and investment in iterative formative research with extensive consultation with teens can lead to an engaging texting curriculum that enhances and complements TOP(®). Copyright © 2014 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  9. Using text messages to promote health in African-Americans: #HeartHealthyandCancerFree.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jones, Allison R; Moser, Debra K; Hatcher, Jennifer

    2018-04-01

    African-Americans are vulnerable to both cancer and cardiovascular disease (CVD) due to intricately connected risk factors. Use of text messages is an innovative method to provide health information to reduce these risks. The aim of this study was to test the feasibility and acceptability of a text messaging intervention to reduce CVD and cancer risk factors in African-Americans. We developed an intervention using text messages culturally tailored for African-Americans over age 50 who were at risk (one or more modifiable risk factors) for CVD and/or cancer. Sociodemographic data, biologic measures, cancer screening practices, and general health status were assessed. Group interviews were conducted to assess feasibility and acceptability. Participants were primarily female (69%), aged 58 ± 5 years, who were married (59%) and worked full time (56%). In terms of feasibility and acceptability, themes of encouragement through text messages received and a desire for a longer study period emerged from group interviews with participants. Participants experienced significant decreases in waist circumference (41 ± 5 vs 40 ± 5, p = .002), systolic blood pressure (147 ± 25 mmHg vs 138 ± 20 mmHg, p = .009), diastolic blood pressure (87 ± 16 mmHg vs 82 ± 10 mmHg, p = .02), total cholesterol (194 ± 35 mg/dL vs 173 ± 32 mg/dL, p text messages was widely accepted among participants. Significant CVD risk reductions and increased cancer screenings were noted. Future studies should incorporate innovative strategies such as text messaging in promoting health in vulnerable populations.

  10. Applications of Text Messaging, and Bibliotherapy for Treatment of Patients Affected by Depressive Symptoms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Taleban, Roya; Zamani, Ahmadreza; Moafi, Mohammad; Jiryaee, Nasrin; Khadivi, Reza

    2016-01-01

    Intensity of depressive symptoms could be exacerbated due to the paucity of appropriate treatments. We assessed the effectiveness of bibliotherapy and text messaging, which aimed at amelioration of patient's behavior and consciousness, which could lead to suicide prevention. This was a randomized clinical trial implemented in rural health centers of Isfahan district (Iran). Health centers were assigned in three trials consisting of the booklet, text messaging, and control groups. Each group consisted of 70 patients. Inclusion criteria were being affected by depressive symptom, text messaging. Out of 210 individuals, 198 patients finished this study. The intensity of depressive symptom was significantly affected through time and group factors as well as time-group interaction (F = 12.30, P text messaging group achieved neither durable nor significant success; thus, bibliotherapy could be utilized as a complementary methodology aiming depression treatment.

  11. Text messaging data collection for monitoring an infant feeding intervention program in rural China: feasibility study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Ye; Wang, Wei; van Velthoven, Michelle Helena; Chen, Li; Car, Josip; Rudan, Igor; Zhang, Yanfeng; Wu, Qiong; Du, Xiaozhen; Scherpbier, Robert W

    2013-12-04

    An effective data collection method is crucial for high quality monitoring of health interventions. The traditional face-to-face data collection method is labor intensive, expensive, and time consuming. With the rapid increase of mobile phone subscribers, text messaging has the potential to be used for evaluation of population health interventions in rural China. The objective of this study was to explore the feasibility of using text messaging as a data collection tool to monitor an infant feeding intervention program. Participants were caregivers of children aged 0 to 23 months in rural China who participated in an infant feeding health education program. We used the test-retest method. First, we collected data with a text messaging survey and then with a face-to-face survey for 2 periods of 3 days. We compared the response rate, data agreement, costs, and participants' acceptability of the two methods. Also, we interviewed participants to explore their reasons for not responding to the text messages and the reasons for disagreement in the two methods. In addition, we evaluated the most appropriate time during the day for sending text messages. We included 258 participants; 99 (38.4%) participated in the text messaging survey and 177 (68.6%) in the face-to-face survey. Compared with the face-to-face survey, the text messaging survey had much lower response rates to at least one question (38.4% vs 68.6%) and to all 7 questions (27.9% vs 67.4%) with moderate data agreement (most kappa values between .5 and .75, the intraclass correlation coefficients between .53 to .72). Participants who took part in both surveys gave the same acceptability rating for both methods (median 4.0 for both on a 5-point scale, 1=disliked very much and 5=liked very much). The costs per questionnaire for the text messaging method were much lower than the costs for the face-to-face method: ¥19.7 (US $3.13) versus ¥33.9 (US $5.39) for all questionnaires, and ¥27.1 (US $4.31) versus ¥34

  12. Mood Detection in Ambiguous Messages: The Interaction Between Text and Emoticons

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nerea Aldunate

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available Face-to-face communication has several sources of contextual information that enables language comprehension. This information is used, for instance, to perceive mood of interlocutors, clarifying ambiguous messages. However, these contextual cues are absent in text-based communication. Emoticons have been proposed as cues used to stress the emotional intentions on this channel of communication. Most studies have suggested that their role is to contribute to a more accurate perception of emotions. Nevertheless, it is not clear if their influence on disambiguation is independent of their emotional valence and its interaction with text message valence. In the present study, we designed an emotional congruence paradigm, where participants read a set of messages composed by a positive or negative emotional situation sentence followed by a positive or negative emoticon. Participants were instructed to indicate if the sender was in a good or bad mood. With the aim of analyzing the disambiguation process and observing if the role of the emoticons in disambiguation is different according their valence, we measure the rate of responses of perceived mood and the reaction times (RTs for each condition. Our results showed that the perceived mood in ambiguous messages tends to be more negative regardless of emotion valence. Nonetheless, we observed that this tendency was not the same for positive and negative emoticons. Specifically, negative mood perception was higher for incongruent positive emoticons. On the other hand, RTs for positive emoticons were faster than for the negative ones. Responses for incongruent messages were slower than for the congruent ones. However, the incongruent condition showed different RTs depending on the emoticons’ valence. In the incongruent condition, responses for negative emoticons was the slowest. Results are discussed taking into account previous observations about the potential role of emoticons in mood perception and

  13. Women's Perceptions of Participation in an Extended Contact Text Message-Based Weight Loss Intervention: An Explorative Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Job, Jennifer R; Spark, Lauren C; Fjeldsoe, Brianna S; Eakin, Elizabeth G; Reeves, Marina M

    2017-02-27

    Extending contact with participants after the end of an initial weight loss intervention has been shown to lead to maintained weight loss and related behavioral change. Mobile phone text messaging (short message service, SMS) offers a low-cost and efficacious method to deliver extended contact. In this rapidly developing area, formative work is required to understand user perspectives of text message technology. An extended contact intervention delivered by text messages following an initial telephone-delivered weight loss intervention in breast cancer survivors provided this opportunity. The aim of this study was to qualitatively explore women's perceptions of participation in an extended contact intervention using text messaging to support long-term weight loss, physical activity, and dietary behavioral change. Following the end of an initial 6-month randomized controlled trial of a telephone-delivered weight loss intervention (versus usual care), participants received a 6-month extended contact intervention via tailored text messages. Participant perceptions of the different types of text messages, the content, tailoring, timing, and frequency of the text messages, and the length of the intervention were assessed through semistructured interviews conducted after the extended contact intervention. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed with key themes identified. Participants (n=27) were a mean age of 56.0 years (SD 7.8) and mean body mass index of 30.4 kg/m2 (SD 4.2) and were at a mean of 16.1 months (SD 3.1) postdiagnosis at study baseline. Participants perceived the text messages to be useful behavioral prompts and felt the messages kept them accountable to their behavioral change goals. The individual tailoring of the text message content and schedules was a key to the acceptability of the messages; however, some women preferred the support and real-time discussion via telephone calls (during the initial intervention) compared with the text

  14. Text-Messaging Practices and Links to General Spelling Skill: A Study of Australian Children

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bushnell, Catherine; Kemp, Nenagh; Martin, Frances Heritage

    2011-01-01

    This study investigated 10- to 12-year-old Australian children's text-messaging practices and their relationship to traditional spelling ability. Of the 227 children tested, 82% reported sending text-messages; a median of 5 per day. Use of predictive and multi-press entry methods was roughly equal. Children produced a wide range of text-message…

  15. Text Messaging Data Collection for Monitoring an Infant Feeding Intervention Program in Rural China: Feasibility Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Velthoven, Michelle Helena; Chen, Li; Car, Josip; Rudan, Igor; Wu, Qiong; Du, Xiaozhen; Scherpbier, Robert W

    2013-01-01

    Background An effective data collection method is crucial for high quality monitoring of health interventions. The traditional face-to-face data collection method is labor intensive, expensive, and time consuming. With the rapid increase of mobile phone subscribers, text messaging has the potential to be used for evaluation of population health interventions in rural China. Objective The objective of this study was to explore the feasibility of using text messaging as a data collection tool to monitor an infant feeding intervention program. Methods Participants were caregivers of children aged 0 to 23 months in rural China who participated in an infant feeding health education program. We used the test-retest method. First, we collected data with a text messaging survey and then with a face-to-face survey for 2 periods of 3 days. We compared the response rate, data agreement, costs, and participants’ acceptability of the two methods. Also, we interviewed participants to explore their reasons for not responding to the text messages and the reasons for disagreement in the two methods. In addition, we evaluated the most appropriate time during the day for sending text messages. Results We included 258 participants; 99 (38.4%) participated in the text messaging survey and 177 (68.6%) in the face-to-face survey. Compared with the face-to-face survey, the text messaging survey had much lower response rates to at least one question (38.4% vs 68.6%) and to all 7 questions (27.9% vs 67.4%) with moderate data agreement (most kappa values between .5 and .75, the intraclass correlation coefficients between .53 to .72). Participants who took part in both surveys gave the same acceptability rating for both methods (median 4.0 for both on a 5-point scale, 1=disliked very much and 5=liked very much). The costs per questionnaire for the text messaging method were much lower than the costs for the face-to-face method: ¥19.7 (US $3.13) versus ¥33.9 (US $5.39) for all

  16. Automated Text Messaging as an Adjunct to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Depression: A Clinical Trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aguilera, Adrian; Bruehlman-Senecal, Emma; Demasi, Orianna; Avila, Patricia

    2017-05-08

    Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for depression is efficacious, but effectiveness is limited when implemented in low-income settings due to engagement difficulties including nonadherence with skill-building homework and early discontinuation of treatment. Automated messaging can be used in clinical settings to increase dosage of depression treatment and encourage sustained engagement with psychotherapy. The aim of this study was to test whether a text messaging adjunct (mood monitoring text messages, treatment-related text messages, and a clinician dashboard to display patient data) increases engagement and improves clinical outcomes in a group CBT treatment for depression. Specifically, we aim to assess whether the text messaging adjunct led to an increase in group therapy sessions attended, an increase in duration of therapy attended, and reductions in Patient Health Questionnaire-9 item (PHQ-9) symptoms compared with the control condition of standard group CBT in a sample of low-income Spanish speaking Latino patients. Patients in an outpatient behavioral health clinic were assigned to standard group CBT for depression (control condition; n=40) or the same treatment with the addition of a text messaging adjunct (n=45). The adjunct consisted of a daily mood monitoring message, a daily message reiterating the theme of that week's content, and medication and appointment reminders. Mood data and qualitative responses were sent to a Web-based platform (HealthySMS) for review by the therapist and displayed in session as a tool for teaching CBT skills. Intent-to-treat analyses on therapy attendance during 16 sessions of weekly therapy found that patients assigned to the text messaging adjunct stayed in therapy significantly longer (median of 13.5 weeks before dropping out) than patients assigned to the control condition (median of 3 weeks before dropping out; Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney z=-2.21, P=.03). Patients assigned to the text messaging adjunct also generally

  17. How Do Skilled and Less-Skilled Spellers Write Text Messages? A Longitudinal Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bernicot, J.; Goumi, A.; Bert-Erboul, A.; Volckaert-Legrier, O.

    2014-01-01

    The link between students' spelling level and their text-messaging practice gives rise to numerous questions from teachers, parents and the media. A corpus of 4524 text messages produced in daily-life situations by students in sixth and seventh grade (n?=?19, 11-12 years of age) was compiled. None of the participants had ever owned or used a…

  18. Development of a Personalized Bidirectional Text Messaging Tool for HIV Adherence Assessment and Intervention among Substance Abusers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ingersoll, Karen; Dillingham, Rebecca; Reynolds, George; Hettema, Jennifer; Freeman, Jason; Hosseinbor, Sharzad; Winstead-Derlega, Chris

    2013-01-01

    We describe the development of a two-way text messaging intervention tool for substance users who are non-adherent with HIV medications, and examine message flow data for feasibility and acceptability. The assessment and intervention tool, TxText, is fully automated, sending participants mood, substance use, and medication adherence queries by text message. Participants respond, the tool recognizes the category of response, and sends the personalized intervention message that participants designed in return. In 10 months, the tool sent 16,547 messages (half initial, half follow-up) to 31 participants assigned to the TxText condition, who sent 6711 messages in response to the initial messages. Response rates to substance use (n=2370), medication (n=2918) and mood (n=4639) queries were 67%, 69%, and 64%, respectively. Responses indicating medication adherence, abstinence from substances, and good moods were more common than negative responses. The TxText tool can send messages daily over a 3 month period, receive responses, and decode them to deliver personalized affirming or intervention messages. While we await the outcomes of a pilot randomized trial, the process analysis shows that TxText is acceptable and feasible for substance abusers with HIV, and may serve as a complement to HIV medical care. PMID:24029625

  19. Does SMS Text Messaging Help or Harm Adults' Knowledge of Standard Spelling?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Powell, D.; Dixon, M.

    2011-01-01

    The recent increase in short messaging system (SMS) text messaging, often using abbreviated, non-conventional "textisms" (e.g. "2nite"), in school-aged children has raised fears of negative consequences of such technology for literacy. The current research used a paradigm developed by Dixon and Kaminska, who showed that exposure to phonetically…

  20. Feasibility and Acceptability of a Text Messaging Program for Smoking Cessation in Israel.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abroms, Lorien; Hershcovitz, Ronit; Boal, Ashley; Levine, Hagai

    2015-08-01

    Text messaging programs on mobile phones have been shown to promote smoking cessation. This study investigated whether a text-messaging program for smoking cessation, adapted from QuitNowTXT, is feasible in Israel and acceptable to Israeli smokers. Participants (N = 38) were given a baseline assessment, enrolled in the adapted text messaging program, and followed-up with at 2 weeks and 4 weeks after their quit date. The authors used an intent-to-treat analysis and found that 23.7% of participants reported having quit smoking at the 4-week follow-up. Participants sent an average of 12.9 text replies during the study period, and the majority reported reading most or all of the texts. However, 34.2% of participants had unsubscribed by the 4-week follow-up. Moderate levels of satisfaction were reported; more than half agreed that they would recommend the program. Suggestions for improvement included adding advice by an expert counselor, website support, and increased customization. Results indicate that a text messaging smoking cessation program developed by modifying the content of QuitNowTXT is feasible and could be acceptable to smokers in Israel. The experience adapting and pilot testing the program can serve as a model for using QuitNowTXT to develop and implement such programs in other countries.

  1. Use of text messaging for maternal and infant health: a systematic review of the literature.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Poorman, Elisabeth; Gazmararian, Julie; Parker, Ruth M; Yang, Baiyu; Elon, Lisa

    2015-05-01

    Text messaging is an increasingly popular communication tool in health interventions, but has been little studied in maternal and infant health. This literature review evaluates studies of text messaging that may be applied to the promotion of maternal and infant health. Articles from peer-reviewed journals published before June 2012 were included if they were experimental or quasi-experimental studies of behaviors endorsed either by the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, the American Pediatrics Association, or the United States Preventive Services Task Force; included reproductive age women (12-50 years) or infants up to 2 years of age; and were available in English. Qualitative studies of text messaging specific to pregnant women were also included. Studies were compared and contrasted by key variables, including: design, time-period, study population, and results. Forty-eight articles were included, 30 of which were randomized controlled trials. Interventions vary greatly in effectiveness and soundness of methodology, but collectively indicate that there is a wide range of preventative behaviors that text message interventions can effectively promote, including smoking cessation, diabetes control, appointment reminders, medication adherence, weight loss, and vaccine uptake. Common methodological issues include not accounting for attention affect and not aligning text message content to measured outcomes. Those interventions that are based on an established theory of behavior change and use motivational as opposed to informational language are more likely to be successful. Building on the growing body of evidence for text message interventions reviewed here, as well as the growing popularity of text messaging as a medium, researchers should be able to use this technology to engage difficult to reach populations.

  2. Emerging Adults' Text Message Use and Sleep Characteristics: A Multimethod, Naturalistic Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Murdock, Karla Klein; Horissian, Mikael; Crichlow-Ball, Caroline

    2017-01-01

    Emerging adults use text messaging as a principal form of social communication, day and night, and this may compromise their sleep. In this study, a hypothetical model was tested linking daytime and nighttime text message use with multiple sleep characteristics. Subjective and objective measures of texting and sleep were utilized to assess 83 college students over a seven-day period during an academic term. Greater number of daily texts, awareness of nighttime cell phone notifications, and compulsion to check nighttime notifications were significantly associated with poorer subjective sleep quality. Awareness of nighttime notifications was significantly associated with higher self-reported global sleep problems and more sleep disruptions. Results suggest potential benefits of targeting nighttime texting habits in health promotion efforts for emerging adults.

  3. Increasing the response rate of text messaging data collection: a delayed randomized controlled trial

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Ye; Wang, Wei; Wu, Qiong; van Velthoven, Michelle Helena; Chen, Li; Du, Xiaozhen; Zhang, Yanfeng; Rudan, Igor; Car, Josip

    2015-01-01

    Objective To test the effectiveness of multiple interventions on increasing the response rate of text messaging for longitudinal data collection. Methods Our cohort included 283 caregivers of children aged 6–12 months who were participating in an anemia program in rural China. Using text messages to collect data on anemia medication adherence, we conducted a delayed randomized controlled trial to test multiple interventions (an additional four reminders; a ¥5.0 (US$0.79) credit reward for replying; and a feedback text message). After a 6-week pilot study with week 7 as the baseline measurement, we randomly allocated all participants into two groups: group 1 (n = 142) and group 2 (n = 141). During weeks 8–11, we introduced the interventions to group 1, and in weeks 12–15 the intervention was introduced to both groups. We compared the response rates between groups and explored factors affecting the response rate. Results During weeks 8–11, the response rates in group 1 increased and were significantly higher than in group 2 (p0.05) and slightly decreased in group 1. Younger participants or participants who had children with lower hemoglobin concentration were more likely to reply (p = 0.02). Sending four reminders on the second day contributed to only 286 (11.7%) extra text messages. Discussion Our study showed that multiple interventions were effective in increasing response rate of text messaging data collection in rural China. Conclusions Larger multi-site studies are needed to find the most effective way of using these interventions to allow usage of text messaging data collection for health research. PMID:25332355

  4. A systematic review and meta-analysis of interventions for weight management using text messaging.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Siopis, G; Chey, T; Allman-Farinelli, M

    2015-02-01

    Obesity prevalence continues to increase worldwide, with significant associated chronic disease and health cost implications. Among more recent innovations in health service provision is the use of text messaging for health behaviour change interventions including weight management. This review investigates the efficacy of weight management programmes incorporating text messaging. Medical and scientific databases were searched from January 1993 to October 2013. Eligibility criteria included randomised controlled trials (RCTs), pseudoRCTs and before and after studies of weight management, among healthy children and adults, that used text messaging and included a nutrition component. Data extraction and quality assessment followed guidelines from PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses) and the Evidence Analysis Manual of the American Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. From 512 manuscripts retrieved, 14 met the inclusion criteria (five manuscripts in children and nine in adults). Duration of interventions ranged from 1 to 24 months. Frequency of text messaging was from daily to fortnightly. Six studies in adults were included in a meta-analysis with mean body weight change as the primary outcome. The weighted mean change in body weight in intervention participants was -2.56 kg (95% confidence interval = -3.46 to -1.65) and in controls -0.37 kg (95% confidence interval = -1.22 to 0.48). The small body of evidence indicates that text messaging interventions can promote weight loss. However, lack of long-term results indicate that further efficacy studies are required. Future investigations should elucidate the determinants, such as intervention duration, text message frequency and level of interactivity that maximise the success and cost effectiveness of the delivery medium. © 2014 The British Dietetic Association Ltd.

  5. Text Messaging for Psychiatric Outpatients: Effect on Help-Seeking and Self-Harming Behaviors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kodama, Toyohiko; Syouji, Hiroko; Takaki, Sachiko; Fujimoto, Hirokazu; Ishikawa, Shinichi; Fukutake, Masaaki; Taira, Masaru; Hashimoto, Takeshi

    2016-04-01

    A mobile phone intervention was developed and tested with 30 psychiatric outpatients with mental illness, who had high ideation for suicide. The intervention involved promoting help-seeking behaviors by sending text messages, including information about social welfare services and reminders about medical appointments, for 6 months. After the intervention period, the number of participants who used social services significantly increased, and more than 80% of participants reported that the text messaging service was helpful and useful. Compared to baseline, participants' self-harming behaviors decreased and the attending psychiatrists rated their suicide ideation as weaker. This is the first intervention study to promote psychiatric patients' help-seeking using text messaging, and although it was not a randomized controlled trial, this intervention has practical value and may lead to the prevention of suicide. Copyright 2016, SLACK Incorporated.

  6. Developing mobile phone text messages for tobacco risk communication among college students: a mixed methods study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alexander V. Prokhorov

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Engaging young adults for the purpose of communicating health risks associated with nicotine and tobacco use can be challenging since they comprise a population heavily targeted with appealing marketing by the evolving tobacco industry. The Food and Drug Administration seeks novel ways to effectively communicate risks to warn about using these products. This paper describes the first step in developing a text messaging program delivered by smartphones that manipulate three messaging characteristics (i.e., depth, framing, and appeal. Methods Perceptions of community college students were described after previewing text messages designed to inform about risks of using conventional and new tobacco products. Thirty-one tobacco users and nonusers, aged 18–25 participated in five focus discussions held on two community college campuses. Attendees reviewed prototype messages and contributed feedback about text message structure and content. Qualitative data were coded and analyzed using NVivo Version 10. Results Most participants were female and two-thirds were ethnic minorities. A variety of conventional and new tobacco products in the past month were used by a third of participants. Three identified domains were derived from the qualitative data. These included perceived risks of using tobacco products, receptivity to message content, and logistical feedback regarding the future message campaign. Conclusion Overall, participants found the messages to be interesting and appropriate. A gap in awareness of the risks of using new tobacco products was revealed. Feedback on the prototype messages was incorporated into message revisions. These findings provided preliminary confirmation that the forthcoming messaging program will be appealing to young adults.

  7. Real-Time Data Collection Using Text Messaging in a Primary Care Clinic.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rai, Manisha; Moniz, Michelle H; Blaszczak, Julie; Richardson, Caroline R; Chang, Tammy

    2017-12-01

    The use of text messaging is nearly ubiquitous and represents a promising method of collecting data from diverse populations. The purpose of this study was to assess the feasibility and acceptability of text message surveys in a clinical setting and to describe key lessons to minimize attrition. We obtained a convenience sample of individuals who entered the waiting room of a low-income, primary care clinic. Participants were asked to answer between 17 and 30 survey questions on a variety of health-related topics, including both open- and closed-ended questions. Descriptive statistics were used to characterize the participants and determine the response rates. Bivariate analyses were used to identify predictors of incomplete surveys. Our convenience sample consisted of 461 individuals. Of those who attempted the survey, 80% (370/461) completed it in full. The mean age of respondents was 35.4 years (standard deviation = 12.4). Respondents were predominantly non-Hispanic black (42%) or non-Hispanic white (41%), female (75%), and with at least some college education (70%). Of those who completed the survey, 84% (312/370) reported willingness to do another text message survey. Those with incomplete surveys answered a median of nine questions before stopping. Smartphone users were less likely to leave the survey incomplete compared with non-smartphone users (p = 0.004). Text-message surveys are a feasible and acceptable method to collect real-time data among low-income, clinic-based populations. Offering participants a setting for immediate survey completion, minimizing survey length, simplifying questions, and allowing "free text" responses for all questions may optimize response rates.

  8. A review of the use of mobile phone text messaging in clinical and healthy behaviour interventions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wei, Jin; Hollin, Ilene; Kachnowski, Stan

    2011-01-01

    We reviewed the literature on the use of text messaging for clinical and healthy behaviour interventions. Electronic databases were searched in December 2009 using keywords related to text messaging and health interventions. The final review included 24 articles. Of those, seven covered medication adherence, eight discussed clinical management and nine reported on health-related behaviour modification. Sixteen were randomized controlled trials (RCT), five were non-controlled pre-post comparison studies and three were feasibility pilots not reporting a behavioural outcome. The frequency of messaging ranged from multiple messages daily to one message per month. Among the 16 RCTs, 10 reported significant improvement with interventions and six reported differences suggesting positive trends. Text messaging received good acceptance and showed early efficacy in most studies. However, the evidence base is compromised by methodological limitations and is not yet conclusive.

  9. Adolescent Female Text Messaging Preferences to Prevent Pregnancy After an Emergency Department Visit: A Qualitative Analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chernick, Lauren Stephanie; Schnall, Rebecca; Stockwell, Melissa S; Castaño, Paula M; Higgins, Tracy; Westhoff, Carolyn; Santelli, John; Dayan, Peter S

    2016-09-29

    Over 15 million adolescents use the emergency department (ED) each year in the United States. Adolescent females who use the ED for medical care have been found to be at high risk for unintended pregnancy. Given that adolescents represent the largest users of text messaging and are receptive to receiving text messages related to their sexual health, the ED visit represents an opportunity for intervention. The aim of this qualitative study was to explore interest in and preferences for the content, frequency, and timing of an ED-based text message intervention to prevent pregnancy for adolescent females. We conducted semistructured, open-ended interviews in one urban ED in the United States with adolescent females aged 14-19 years. Eligible subjects were adolescents who were sexually active in the past 3 months, presented to the ED for a reproductive health complaint, owned a mobile phone, and did not use effective contraception. Using an interview guide, enrollment continued until saturation of key themes. The investigators designed sample text messages using the Health Beliefs Model and participants viewed these on a mobile phone. The team recorded, transcribed, and coded interviews based on thematic analysis using the qualitative analysis software NVivo and Excel. Participants (n=14) were predominantly Hispanic (13/14; 93%), insured (13/14; 93%), ED users in the past year (12/14; 86%), and frequent text users (10/14; 71% had sent or received >30 texts per day). All were interested in receiving text messages from the ED about pregnancy prevention, favoring messages that were "brief," "professional," and "nonaccusatory." Respondents favored texts with links to websites, repeated information regarding places to receive "confidential" care, and focused information on contraception options and misconceptions. Preferences for text message frequency varied from daily to monthly, with random hours of delivery to maintain "surprise." No participant feared that text

  10. Smartphone text message service to foster hand hygiene compliance in health care workers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kerbaj, Jad; Toure, Youssoupha; Soto Aladro, Alberto; Boudjema, Sophia; Giorgi, Roch; Dufour, Jean Charles; Brouqui, Philippe

    2017-03-01

    Health care-associated infections are a major worldwide public health issue. Hand hygiene is a major component in the prevention of pathogen transmission in hospitals, and hand hygiene adherence by health care workers is low in many studies. We report an intervention using text messages as reminders and feedback to improve hand hygiene adherence. The study is a historical comparison proof-of-concept study. Eighteen health care workers were monitored during 12 months by a radiofrequency identification system. Afterward we sent 2 types of text messages, congratulation or encouragement, and we studied the evolution of hand hygiene adherence. We recorded 15,723 hand hygiene opportunities, 8,973 before intervention and 6,750 during and after the intervention. Using a multilevel logistic regression analysis, we found a significant increase in hand hygiene adherence during the intervention (odds ratio, 1.68) compared with the historical period. Despite limitations due to the type of study, a text message encouraging personnel to be more vigilant is effective in increasing hand hygiene adherence in health care workers. Text message feedback should be incorporated into multimodal approaches for improving hand hygiene compliance. Copyright © 2017 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  11. Text Messaging, Pragmatic Competence, and Affective Facilitation in the EFL Context: A Pilot Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haggan, Madeline

    2010-01-01

    Since text messaging is a widely popular method of communication among young people, the paper tries to investigate whether it might have some practical application in the EFL classroom. Kuwaiti EFL students asked to render a mixture of text messages written by their peers and native English speakers into Standard English produced a large number…

  12. Daily text messaging for weight control among racial and ethnic minority women: randomized controlled pilot study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Steinberg, Dori M; Levine, Erica L; Askew, Sandy; Foley, Perry; Bennett, Gary G

    2013-11-18

    Daily self-monitoring of diet and physical activity behaviors is a strong predictor of weight loss success. Text messaging holds promise as a viable self-monitoring modality, particularly among racial/ethnic minority populations. This pilot study evaluated the feasibility of a text messaging intervention for weight loss among predominantly black women. Fifty obese women were randomized to either a 6-month intervention using a fully automated system that included daily text messages for self-monitoring tailored behavioral goals (eg, 10,000 steps per day, no sugary drinks) along with brief feedback and tips (n=26) or to an education control arm (n=24). Weight was objectively measured at baseline and at 6 months. Adherence was defined as the proportion of text messages received in response to self-monitoring prompts. The average daily text messaging adherence rate was 49% (SD 27.9) with 85% (22/26) texting self-monitored behavioral goals 2 or more days per week. Approximately 70% (16/23) strongly agreed that daily texting was easy and helpful and 76% (16/21) felt the frequency of texting was appropriate. At 6 months, the intervention arm lost a mean of 1.27 kg (SD 6.51), and the control arm gained a mean of 1.14 kg (SD 2.53; mean difference -2.41 kg, 95% CI -5.22 to 0.39; P=.09). There was a trend toward greater text messaging adherence being associated with greater percent weight loss (r=-.36; P=.08), but this did not reach statistical significance. There was no significant association between goal attainment and text messaging adherence and no significant predictors of adherence. Given the increasing penetration of mobile devices, text messaging may be a useful self-monitoring tool for weight control, particularly among populations most in need of intervention. Clinicaltrials.gov: NCT00939081; http://clinicaltrials.gov/show/NCT00939081 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6KiIIcnk1).

  13. Efficacy of a text messaging (SMS) based intervention for adults with hypertension: protocol for the StAR (SMS Text-message Adherence suppoRt trial) randomised controlled trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bobrow, Kirsty; Brennan, Thomas; Springer, David; Levitt, Naomi S; Rayner, Brian; Namane, Mosedi; Yu, Ly-Mee; Tarassenko, Lionel; Farmer, Andrew

    2014-01-11

    Interventions to support people with hypertension in attending clinics and taking their medication have potential to improve outcomes, but delivery on a wide scale and at low cost is challenging. Some trials evaluating clinical interventions using short message service (SMS) text-messaging systems have shown important outcomes, although evidence is limited. We have developed a novel SMS system integrated with clinical care for use by people with hypertension in a low-resource setting. We aim to test the efficacy of the system in improving blood pressure control and treatment adherence compared to usual care. The SMS Text-message Adherence suppoRt trial (StAR) is a pragmatic individually randomised three-arm parallel group trial in adults treated for hypertension at a single primary care centre in Cape Town, South Africa. The intervention is a structured programme of clinic appointment, medication pick-up reminders, medication adherence support and hypertension-related education delivered remotely using an automated system with either informational or interactive SMS text-messages. Usual care is supplemented by infrequent non-hypertension related SMS text-messages. Participants are 1:1:1 individually randomised, to usual care or to one of the two active interventions using minimisation to dynamically adjust for gender, age, baseline systolic blood pressure, years with hypertension, and previous clinic attendance. The primary outcome is the change in mean systolic blood pressure at 12-month follow-up from baseline measured with research staff blinded to trial allocation. Secondary outcomes include the proportion of patients with 80% or more of days medication available, proportion of participants achieving a systolic blood pressure less than 140 mmHg and a diastolic blood pressure less than 90 mmHg, hospital admissions, health status, retention in clinical care, satisfaction with treatment and care, and patient related quality of life. Anonymised demographic data

  14. Classroom-Based Integration of Text-Messaging in Mathematics Teaching-Learning Process

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aunzo, Rodulfo T., Jr.

    2017-01-01

    A lot of teachers are complaining that students are "texting" inside the classroom even during class hours. With this, this research study "on students' perception before the integration and the students' attitude after the integration of text messaging inside the classroom during the mathematics teaching-learning process was…

  15. Developing mobile phone text messages for tobacco risk communication among college students: a mixed methods study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prokhorov, Alexander V; Machado, Tamara C; Calabro, Karen S; Vanderwater, Elizabeth A; Vidrine, Damon J; Pasch, Keryn P; Marani, Salma K; Buchberg, Meredith; Wagh, Aditya; Russell, Sophia C; Czerniak, Katarzyna W; Botello, Gabrielle C; Dobbins, Mackenzie H; Khalil, Georges E; Perry, Cheryl L

    2017-01-31

    Engaging young adults for the purpose of communicating health risks associated with nicotine and tobacco use can be challenging since they comprise a population heavily targeted with appealing marketing by the evolving tobacco industry. The Food and Drug Administration seeks novel ways to effectively communicate risks to warn about using these products. This paper describes the first step in developing a text messaging program delivered by smartphones that manipulate three messaging characteristics (i.e., depth, framing, and appeal). Perceptions of community college students were described after previewing text messages designed to inform about risks of using conventional and new tobacco products. Thirty-one tobacco users and nonusers, aged 18-25 participated in five focus discussions held on two community college campuses. Attendees reviewed prototype messages and contributed feedback about text message structure and content. Qualitative data were coded and analyzed using NVivo Version 10. Most participants were female and two-thirds were ethnic minorities. A variety of conventional and new tobacco products in the past month were used by a third of participants. Three identified domains were derived from the qualitative data. These included perceived risks of using tobacco products, receptivity to message content, and logistical feedback regarding the future message campaign. Overall, participants found the messages to be interesting and appropriate. A gap in awareness of the risks of using new tobacco products was revealed. Feedback on the prototype messages was incorporated into message revisions. These findings provided preliminary confirmation that the forthcoming messaging program will be appealing to young adults.

  16. Text Messaging in the School Lives of American High School Girls

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eisenhart, Margaret; Allaman, Erin

    2018-01-01

    Digital technologies open new windows for ethnographic explorations of cultural experiences. In this paper, we examine text messaging among academically talented teenage girls of colour at three US urban high schools. Texting introduced a new communication modality into the girls' lives and created a space for new discourses mediating their…

  17. The impact of text message reminders on adherence to antimalarial treatment in northern Ghana: a randomized trial.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Julia R G Raifman

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Low rates of adherence to artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT regimens increase the risk of treatment failure and may lead to drug resistance, threatening the sustainability of current anti-malarial efforts. We assessed the impact of text message reminders on adherence to ACT regimens. METHODS: Health workers at hospitals, clinics, pharmacies, and other stationary ACT distributors in Tamale, Ghana provided flyers advertising free mobile health information to individuals receiving malaria treatment. The messaging system automatically randomized self-enrolled individuals to the control group or the treatment group with equal probability; those in the treatment group were further randomly assigned to receive a simple text message reminder or the simple reminder plus an additional statement about adherence in 12-hour intervals. The main outcome was self-reported adherence based on follow-up interviews occurring three days after treatment initiation. We estimated the impact of the messages on treatment completion using logistic regression. RESULTS: 1140 individuals enrolled in both the study and the text reminder system. Among individuals in the control group, 61.5% took the full course of treatment. The simple text message reminders increased the odds of adherence (adjusted OR 1.45, 95% CI [1.03 to 2.04], p-value 0.028. Receiving an additional message did not result in a significant change in adherence (adjusted OR 0.77, 95% CI [0.50 to 1.20], p-value 0.252. CONCLUSION: The results of this study suggest that a simple text message reminder can increase adherence to antimalarial treatment and that additional information included in messages does not have a significant impact on completion of ACT treatment. Further research is needed to develop the most effective text message content and frequency. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01722734.

  18. "Necesita una vacuna": what Spanish-speakers want in text-message immunization reminders.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ahlers-Schmidt, Carolyn R; Chesser, Amy; Brannon, Jennifer; Lopez, Venessa; Shah-Haque, Sapna; Williams, Katherine; Hart, Traci

    2013-08-01

    Appointment reminders help parents deal with complex immunization schedules. Preferred content of text-message reminders has been identified for English-speakers. Spanish-speaking parents of children under three years old were recruited to develop Spanish text-message immunization reminders. Structured interviews included questions about demographic characteristics, use of technology, and willingness to receive text reminders. Each participant was assigned to one user-centered design (UCD) test: card sort, needs analysis or comprehension testing. Respondents (N=54) were female (70%) and averaged 27 years of age (SD=7). A card sort of 20 immunization-related statements resulted in identification of seven pieces of critical information, which were compiled into eight example texts. These texts were ranked in the needs assessment and the top two were assessed for comprehension. All participants were able to understand the content and describe intention to act. Utilizing UCD testing, Spanish-speakers identified short, specific text content that differed from preferred content of English-speaking parents.

  19. Methods to assess youth engagement in a text messaging supplement to an effective teen pregnancy program.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Devine, Sharon; Leeds, Caroline; Shlay, Judith C; Leytem, Amber; Beum, Robert; Bull, Sheana

    2015-08-01

    Youth are prolific users of cell phone minutes and text messaging. Numerous programs using short message service text messaging (SMS) have been employed to help improve health behaviors and health outcomes. However, we lack information on whether and what type of interaction or engagement with SMS program content is required to realize any benefit. We explored youth engagement with an automated SMS program designed to supplement a 25-session youth development program with demonstrated efficacy for reductions in teen pregnancy. Using two years of program data, we report on youth participation in design of message content and response frequency to messages among youth enrolled in the intervention arm of a randomized controlled trial (RCT) as one indicator of engagement. There were 221 youth between the ages of 14-18 enrolled over two years in the intervention arm of the RCT. Just over half (51%) were female; 56% were Hispanic; and 27% African American. Youth were sent 40,006 messages of which 16,501 were considered bi-directional where youth were asked to text a response. Four-fifths (82%) responded at least once to a text. We found variations in response frequency by gender, age, and ethnicity. The most popular types of messages youth responded to include questions and quizzes. The first two months of the program in each year had the highest response frequency. An important next step is to assess whether higher response to SMS results in greater efficacy. This future work can facilitate greater attention to message design and content to ensure messages are engaging for the intended audience. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  20. Two Women with Multiple Disabilities Communicate with Distant Partners via a Special Text Messaging System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lancioni, Giulio E.; O'Reilly, Mark F.; Singh, Nirbhay N.; Sigafoos, Jeff; Green, Vanessa A.; Oliva, Doretta; Alberti, Gloria; Carrella, Luigina

    2013-01-01

    This study extended the research on a special text messaging system, which allows persons with multiple disabilities to (a) write and send messages to distant partners and (b) have messages from those partners read out to them. The study involved two women with multiple disabilities (including blindness or minimal residual vision). The system…

  1. Mobile phone text messaging to reduce alcohol and tobacco use in young people – a narrative review

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Haug S

    2013-10-01

    Full Text Available Severin Haug Swiss Research Institute for Public Health and Addiction at Zurich University, Zurich, Switzerland Background: Alcohol and tobacco use are major causes of the disease burden in most countries of the world. Mobile phone text messaging is very popular among adolescents and young adults and has the potential to deliver individualized information to large population groups at low costs. Objective: To provide a narrative review on studies testing the appropriateness and effectiveness of text messaging-based programs to reduce alcohol and tobacco use in young people. Results: Two published studies on text message-based programs for the reduction of problem drinking and two studies on programs for enhancing smoking cessation were identified. A US-American pilot experimental study tested the feasibility and initial efficacy of a text messaging-based assessment and brief intervention among young adults identified during their emergency department visit with hazardous drinking. It demonstrated the feasibility of the text messaging-based program to collect drinking data in young adults after emergency department discharge. A Swiss pre–post study tested the appropriateness and initial effectiveness of a combined, individually tailored web- and text messaging (SMS-based program to reduce problem drinking in vocational school students. It provided evidence for the appropriateness of the intervention and initial evidence for its efficacy to reduce problem drinking. One of the two studies addressing smoking cessation was a US-American pilot randomized controlled trial. Participants were recruited via online advertisements and received text messages tailored according to their quitting stage. The intervention significantly affected self-reported quitting rates at 4 weeks but not at 3 months after the quit date. Within a cluster-randomized controlled trial conducted in Switzerland, smoking students were proactively recruited within vocational

  2. The impact of text message reminders on adherence to antimalarial treatment in northern Ghana: a randomized trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Raifman, Julia R G; Lanthorn, Heather E; Rokicki, Slawa; Fink, Günther

    2014-01-01

    Low rates of adherence to artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) regimens increase the risk of treatment failure and may lead to drug resistance, threatening the sustainability of current anti-malarial efforts. We assessed the impact of text message reminders on adherence to ACT regimens. Health workers at hospitals, clinics, pharmacies, and other stationary ACT distributors in Tamale, Ghana provided flyers advertising free mobile health information to individuals receiving malaria treatment. The messaging system automatically randomized self-enrolled individuals to the control group or the treatment group with equal probability; those in the treatment group were further randomly assigned to receive a simple text message reminder or the simple reminder plus an additional statement about adherence in 12-hour intervals. The main outcome was self-reported adherence based on follow-up interviews occurring three days after treatment initiation. We estimated the impact of the messages on treatment completion using logistic regression. 1140 individuals enrolled in both the study and the text reminder system. Among individuals in the control group, 61.5% took the full course of treatment. The simple text message reminders increased the odds of adherence (adjusted OR 1.45, 95% CI [1.03 to 2.04], p-value 0.028). Receiving an additional message did not result in a significant change in adherence (adjusted OR 0.77, 95% CI [0.50 to 1.20], p-value 0.252). The results of this study suggest that a simple text message reminder can increase adherence to antimalarial treatment and that additional information included in messages does not have a significant impact on completion of ACT treatment. Further research is needed to develop the most effective text message content and frequency. ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01722734.

  3. Executive Order 13513---federal leadership on reducing text messaging while driving

    Science.gov (United States)

    2009-10-01

    Presidential Executive Order establishing a Federal Government-wide prohibition on the use of text messaging while driving on official business or while using Government-supplied equipment. This policy also extends to cover Federal contractors and co...

  4. Feasibility and Acceptability of a Text Message-Based Smoking Cessation Program for Young Adults in Lima, Peru: Pilot Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blitchtein-Winicki, Dora; Zevallos, Karine; Samolski, M Reuven; Requena, David; Velarde, Chaska; Briceño, Patricia; Piazza, Marina; Ybarra, Michele L

    2017-08-04

    In Peru's urban communities, tobacco smoking generally starts during adolescence and smoking prevalence is highest among young adults. Each year, many attempt to quit, but access to smoking cessation programs is limited. Evidence-based text messaging smoking cessation programs are an alternative that has been successfully implemented in high-income countries, but not yet in middle- and low-income countries with limited tobacco control policies. The objective was to assess the feasibility and acceptability of an short message service (SMS) text message-based cognitive behavioral smoking cessation program for young adults in Lima, Peru. Recruitment included using flyers and social media ads to direct young adults interested in quitting smoking to a website where interested participants completed a Google Drive survey. Inclusion criteria were being between ages 18 and 25 years, smoking at least four cigarettes per day at least 6 days per week, willing to quit in the next 30 days, owning a mobile phone, using SMS text messaging at least once in past year, and residing in Lima. Participants joined one of three phases: (1) focus groups and in-depth interviews whose feedback was used to develop the SMS text messages, (2) validating the SMS text messages, and (3) a pilot of the SMS text message-based smoking cessation program to test its feasibility and acceptability among young adults in Lima. The outcome measures included adherence to the SMS text message-based program, acceptability of content, and smoking abstinence self-report on days 2, 7, and 30 after quitting. Of 639 participants who completed initial online surveys, 42 met the inclusion criteria and 35 agreed to participate (focus groups and interviews: n=12; validate SMS text messages: n=8; program pilot: n=15). Common quit practices and beliefs emerged from participants in the focus groups and interviews informed the content, tone, and delivery schedule of the messages used in the SMS text message smoking

  5. Confirm Content Validity and Sender Authenticity for Text Messages by Using QR Code

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Firas Mohammed Aswad

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available In light of the information revolution taking place in the modern world, therefore it becomes necessary and important to save this electronic messages. So we offered this technique to ensure the safety of the content of the messages and authenticity of the sender through  networks communication by converting the message's symbols to numbers , each one of this symbols (letters, numbers, symbols will converted into three digits, the first digit represents the ASCII code of the symbol , the second digit represents the frequency of this symbol in the message (the number of times this symbol is appear in the message, and the third digit represents the total number of the locations of the symbol (calculates the symbol location from the first symbol in the message to this symbol itself and blanks also calculated too .The digital signature of the sender will converted to numbers like the symbols of message we explained it before, and this numbers of the digital signature will gathering together to produce three numbers only, this number will gathering with each numbers of the message's symbols, the final  numbers will converted to QR Code , the QR Code will placed with the message and sent to the recipient. The recipient returns the steps of the sender (produce QR Code from the received message and compared it the received QR Codes, if it is match or not. The recipient will ensure that the content is secure, and confirms the authenticity of the sender.

  6. Using Human Factors Techniques to Design Text Message Reminders for Childhood Immunization

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ahlers-Schmidt, Carolyn R.; Hart, Traci; Chesser, Amy; Williams, Katherine S.; Yaghmai, Beryl; Shah-Haque, Sapna; Wittler, Robert R.

    2012-01-01

    This study engaged parents to develop concise, informative, and comprehensible text messages for an immunization reminder system using Human Factors techniques. Fifty parents completed a structured interview including demographics, technology questions, willingness to receive texts from their child's doctor, and health literacy. Each participant…

  7. BrdsNBz: A Mixed Methods Study Exploring Adolescents' Use of a Sexual Health Text Message Service

    Science.gov (United States)

    Willoughby, Jessica Fitts

    2013-01-01

    Sexual health text message services are becoming increasingly popular, but little is known about who uses such services and why. This project details the implementation of a campaign promoting a state-wide sexual health text message service that allows teens to text directly with a health educator and uses a mixed method design to assess who uses…

  8. Influenza vaccine text message reminders for urban, low-income pregnant women: a randomized controlled trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stockwell, Melissa S; Westhoff, Carolyn; Kharbanda, Elyse Olshen; Vargas, Celibell Y; Camargo, Stewin; Vawdrey, David K; Castaño, Paula M

    2014-02-01

    We evaluated the impact of influenza vaccine text message reminders in a low-income obstetric population. We conducted a randomized controlled trial that enrolled 1187 obstetric patients from 5 community-based clinics in New York City. The intervention group received 5 weekly text messages regarding influenza vaccination starting mid-September 2011 and 2 text message appointment reminders. Both groups received standard automated telephone appointment reminders. The prespecified endpoints were receipt of either pre- or postpartum influenza vaccination calculated cumulatively at the end of each month (September-December 2011). After adjusting for gestational age and number of clinic visits, women who received the intervention were 30% more likely to be vaccinated as of December 2011 (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 1.30; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.003, 1.69 end of September: AOR = 1.34; 95% CI = 0.98, 1.85; October: AOR = 1.35; 95% CI = 1.05, 1.75; November: AOR = 1.27; 95% CI = 0.98, 1.65). The subgroup of women early in the third trimester at randomization showed the greatest intervention effect (December 31: 61.9% intervention vs 49.0% control; AOR = 1.88; 95% CI = 1.12, 3.15). In this low-income obstetric population, text messaging was associated with increased influenza vaccination, especially in those who received messages early in their third trimester.

  9. “You should be reading, not texting”: Understanding classroom text messaging in the constant contact society

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sarah Lohnes Watulak

    2010-10-01

    Full Text Available Cell phones are the most ubiquitous communication device owned by young people today, and students’ text messaging during class is a common occurrence in many university classrooms. Analyzing data from a qualitative study involving 34 undergraduate students at a university in the Northeastern United States, this paper seeks to explore: Why do university students text message during class, and what does this tell us about text messaging as a new literacy practice within traditional classroom settings? Drawing on perspectives from new literacies and communication studies, I argue that texting was a meaningful practice for students as it afforded the opportunity for ongoing participation in social networks, and provided a means of exercising power within the controlled space of the classroom.

  10. Fundamentals for Future Mobile-Health (mHealth): A Systematic Review of Mobile Phone and Web-Based Text Messaging in Mental Health.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berrouiguet, Sofian; Baca-García, Enrique; Brandt, Sara; Walter, Michel; Courtet, Philippe

    2016-06-10

    Mobile phone text messages (short message service, SMS) are used pervasively as a form of communication. Almost 100% of the population uses text messaging worldwide and this technology is being suggested as a promising tool in psychiatry. Text messages can be sent either from a classic mobile phone or a web-based application. Reviews are needed to better understand how text messaging can be used in mental health care and other fields of medicine. The objective of the study was to review the literature regarding the use of mobile phone text messaging in mental health care. We conducted a thorough literature review of studies involving text messaging in health care management. Searches included PubMed, PsycINFO, Cochrane, Scopus, Embase and Web of Science databases on May 25, 2015. Studies reporting the use of text messaging as a tool in managing patients with mental health disorders were included. Given the heterogeneity of studies, this review was summarized using a descriptive approach. From 677 initial citations, 36 studies were included in the review. Text messaging was used in a wide range of mental health situations, notably substance abuse (31%), schizophrenia (22%), and affective disorders (17%). We identified four ways in which text messages were used: reminders (14%), information (17%), supportive messages (42%), and self-monitoring procedures (42%). Applications were sometimes combined. We report growing interest in text messaging since 2006. Text messages have been proposed as a health care tool in a wide spectrum of psychiatric disorders including substance abuse, schizophrenia, affective disorders, and suicide prevention. Most papers described pilot studies, while some randomized clinical trials (RCTs) were also reported. Overall, a positive attitude toward text messages was reported. RCTs reported improved treatment adherence and symptom surveillance. Other positive points included an increase in appointment attendance and in satisfaction with

  11. BrdsNBz: A mixed methods study exploring adolescents' use of a sexual health text message service

    Science.gov (United States)

    Willoughby, Jessica Fitts

    Sexual health text message services are becoming increasingly popular, but little is known about who uses such services and why. This project details the implementation of a campaign promoting a state-wide sexual health text message service that allows teens to text directly with a health educator and uses a mixed method design to assess who uses the service, what motivates use, and potential barriers to using the service. A theory of information seeking through text messaging is posited based on previous information seeking and communication theory and tested with adolescents. A social marketing campaign was created promoting a North Carolina sexual health text message service and conducted in six middle and high schools in the North Carolina Piedmont region in Fall 2012. More than 2000 students in four schools completed online questionnaires that assessed awareness of the service, perceptions, and use. Focus groups and in depth interviews were then conducted with middle and high school students. Results indicate teens who are sexually active and in relationships are more likely to use the service. A teens' level of uncertainty about sexual health influences affect, which in turn leads adolescents to assess various information options. Positive attitudes toward the service and credibility perceptions are direct predictors of intentions to use. Efficacy was found to be an indirect predictor, working through credibility perceptions to influence intentions to use. Although teens may have an interest in using the service, there are barriers associated with use. Survey findings and qualitative results indicate that teens are interested in using a sexual health text message service, but perceived costs, fear of parents finding out about service use, and a lack of understanding of how to use the service were barriers for some teens. This study has implications for sexual health text message services, especially those that allow teens to connect directly with a health

  12. Potential Limitations of E-mail and Text Messaging in Improving Adherence in Glaucoma and Ocular Hypertension.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saeedi, Osamah J; Luzuriaga, Christine; Ellish, Nancy; Robin, Alan

    2015-01-01

    To determine how receptive patients are to the use of e-mail and text message reminders for appointments and medications. We conducted a consecutive cross-sectional survey of eligible patients with glaucoma or ocular hypertension at a private glaucoma subspecialty practice with 3 locations from February 2011 to January 2012. Main outcome measures were answers to survey questions regarding how receptive patients are to e-mail and text messaging reminders for appointments and medications. Of 989 patients, 404 (40.8%) patients reported that e-mail reminders would help remember appointments and 185 (18.7%) reported that they would help for medications. Among those with access to text messaging, 280 (68.9%) reported text messaging would help them remember appointments and 193 (47.5%) reported it would help with medications. Patients who reported e-mail would help them remember medications were more likely to live in an urban location [P=0.05, odds ratio (OR)=1.84], check the internet at least daily (P≤0.001, OR=1.04), check e-mail when not at home or the office (P=0.02, OR=1.62), and know how to open attachments (P=0.03, OR=1.87). Patients who reported that text messaging would help them remember their medications were more likely to be 40 or less (P≤0.001, OR=8.54) and African American (Ptext messaging reminders currently may have a limited utility in improving adherence in the general glaucoma population but may be useful in younger patients with glaucoma.

  13. The universal imperial power of the Christian Text and yet the vulnerability of its message

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Johann-Albrecht Meylahn

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available Is there anything outside the Christian Text or is the Christian Text all there is? The article will argue that the Christian Text has formed and shaped Western thinking to such an extent that it is impossible to think in the global world, co-created by various Western texts, without Christianity. The fact that the West colonised the world, and that today the Western media dominates the language of the global village, makes it nearly impossible to think outside the Christian Text and thus the universal domination by the Text. This article will first argue that for the Western-influenced world, there is nothing beyond the Christian Texts, and then it will argue that although this Text has universal (global dominance, there is an interpretation of its central message as a message of weakness and vulnerability, which challenges (deconstructs its imperialism. This leads towards the question: what is a possible praxis of such a universal and ‘imperial’ Text with its message of vulnerable weakness, specifically from a post-colonial context like South Africa?

  14. OMG do not say LOL: obese adolescents' perspectives on the content of text messages to enhance weight loss efforts.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Woolford, Susan J; Barr, Kathryn L C; Derry, Holly A; Jepson, Christina M; Clark, Sarah J; Strecher, Victor J; Resnicow, Kenneth

    2011-12-01

    Adolescents participating in weight loss programs experience difficulty adhering to behavior change recommendations. Communications technology provides a low cost means to increase the frequency of contact with adolescents which can improve their engagement and also lead to behavior change. Within a larger project on the development of tailored text messages for adolescents enrolled in an existing multidisciplinary weight management program, this study explored participants' perspectives about message content. A library of messages was developed focused on topics central to weight management. Four focus groups were conducted with a total of 24 participants from the weight management program to gage their reactions to the messages. Detailed notes from the focus groups were analyzed to assess the acceptability of individual messages and to identify overriding themes. Results indicate that participants were very enthusiastic about receiving text messages. They preferred messages that provided recipe ideas, included successful weight loss strategies used by peers, and requested feedback regarding their progress. They preferred positive, encouraging, and direct messages. They were unanimous that messages should include encouraging symbols (e.g., exclamation points and "smiley faces") as often as possible. They emphasized that any mention of unhealthy foods or behaviors would trigger them to eat those foods or engage in those behaviors. Text messaging acronyms (e.g., LOL) were considered too informal for messages from healthcare providers. This study suggests that including text messages in obesity interventions is acceptable to obese adolescents as a means of supporting their weight loss efforts, and it highlights the need for such messages to be carefully constructed.

  15. OMG Do Not Say LOL: Obese Adolescents’ Perspectives on the Content of Text Messages to Enhance Weight Loss Efforts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Woolford, Susan J.; Barr, Kathryn L.C.; Derry, Holly A.; Jepson, Christina M.; Clark, Sarah J.; Strecher, Victor J.; Resnicow, Kenneth

    2011-01-01

    Adolescents participating in weight loss programs experience difficulty adhering to behavior change recommendations. Communications technology provides a low cost means to increase the frequency of contact with adolescents which can improve their engagement and also lead to behavior change. Within a larger project on the development of tailored text messages for adolescents enrolled in an existing multidisciplinary weight management program, this study explored participants’ perspectives about message content. A library of messages was developed focused on topics central to weight management. Four focus groups were conducted with a total of 24 participants from the weight management program to gage their reactions to the messages. Detailed notes from the focus groups were analyzed to assess the acceptability of individual messages and to identify overriding themes. Results indicate that participants were very enthusiastic about receiving text messages. They preferred messages that provided recipe ideas, included successful weight loss strategies used by peers, and requested feedback regarding their progress. They preferred positive, encouraging, and direct messages. They were unanimous that messages should include encouraging symbols (e.g., exclamation points and “smiley faces”) as often as possible. They emphasized that any mention of unhealthy foods or behaviors would trigger them to eat those foods or engage in those behaviors. Text messaging acronyms (e.g., LOL) were considered too informal for messages from healthcare providers. This study suggests that including text messages in obesity interventions is acceptable to obese adolescents as a means of supporting their weight loss efforts, and it highlights the need for such messages to be carefully constructed. PMID:21869762

  16. Text-Message Abbreviations and Language Skills in High School and University Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    De Jonge, Sarah; Kemp, Nenagh

    2012-01-01

    This study investigated the use of text-message abbreviations (textisms) in Australian adolescents and young adults, and relations between textism use and literacy abilities. Fifty-two high school students aged 13-15 years, and 53 undergraduates aged 18-24 years, all users of predictive texting, translated conventional English sentences into…

  17. Development and Implementation of an Interactive Text Messaging Campaign to Support Behavior Change in a Childhood Obesity Randomized Controlled Trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Price, Sarah; Ferisin, Stephanie; Sharifi, Mona; Steinberg, David; Bennett, Gary; Wolin, Kathleen Y; Horan, Christine; Koziol, Renata; Marshall, Richard; Taveras, Elsie M

    2015-01-01

    Text messaging is a promising means of intervening on an array of health issues among varied populations, but little has been published about the development of such interventions. The authors describe the development and implementation of an interactive text messaging campaign for parents to support behavior change among children in a childhood obesity randomized controlled trial. The authors invited 160 parents to participate in a text messaging intervention that provided behavior change support in conjunction with health coaching phone calls and mailed materials on behavioral goals. Throughout the 1-year intervention, the authors sent 1-2 text messages per week. The first asked how the child did with a target behavior the day before; parents who replied received an immediate feedback message tailored to their response. The second included a tip about how to work toward a behavioral goal. Baseline surveys indicate that text messaging is a common means of communication for parents, and many are willing to use text messaging to support behavior change for their child. Results at 1 year indicate a high level of engagement with the text messaging intervention, with nearly two thirds responding to 75% or more of the questions they were sent by text.

  18. Text Messaging for Exercise Promotion in Older Adults From an Upper-Middle-Income Country: Randomized Controlled Trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Müller, Andre Matthias; Khoo, Selina; Morris, Tony

    2016-01-07

    Mobile technology to promote exercise is effective; however, most evidence is from studies of younger groups in high-income countries. Investigating if short message service (SMS) texting can affect exercise participation in older adults from an upper-middle-income country is important considering the proliferation of mobile phones in developing regions and the increased interest of older adults in using mobile phones. The main objective was to examine the short- and long-term effects of SMS text messaging on exercise frequency in older adults. Secondary objectives were to investigate how SMS text messages impact study participants' exercise frequency and the effects of the intervention on secondary outcomes. The Malaysian Physical Activity for Health Study (myPAtHS) was a 24-week, 2-arm, parallel randomized controlled trial conducted in urban Malaysia. Participants were recruited via health talks in resident associations and religious facilities. Older Malaysians (aged 55-70 years) who used mobile phones and did not exercise regularly were eligible to participate in the study. Participants randomly allocated to the SMS texting arm received an exercise booklet and 5 weekly SMS text messages over 12 weeks. The content of the SMS text messages was derived from effective behavior change techniques. The non-SMS texting arm participants received only the exercise booklet. Home visits were conducted to collect outcome data: (1) exercise frequency at 12 and 24 weeks, (2) secondary outcome data (exercise self-efficacy, physical activity-related energy expenditure, sitting time, body mass index, grip and leg strength) at baseline and at 12 and 24 weeks. Intention-to-treat procedures were applied for data analysis. Semistructured interviews focusing primarily on the SMS text messages and their impact on exercise frequency were conducted at weeks 12 and 24. In total, 43 participants were randomized into the SMS texting arm (n=22) and the non-SMS texting arm (n=21). Study

  19. Text Messaging to Improve Disease Management in Patients With Painful Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bauer, Victoria; Goodman, Nancy; Lapin, Brittany; Cooley, Camille; Wang, Ed; Craig, Terri L; Glosner, Scott E; Juhn, Mark S; Cappelleri, Joseph C; Sadosky, Alesia B; Masi, Christopher

    2018-06-01

    Purpose The purpose of the study was to determine the impact of educational text messages on diabetes self-management activities and outcomes in patients with painful diabetic peripheral neuropathy (pDPN). Methods Patients with pDPN identified from a large integrated health system who agreed to participate were randomized to 6 months of usual care (UC) or UC plus twice-daily diabetes self-management text messages (UC+TxtM). Outcomes included the Pain Numerical Rating Scale, Summary of Diabetes Self-Care Activities (SDSCA), questions on diabetes health beliefs, and glycated hemoglobin (A1C). Changes from baseline were evaluated at 6 months and compared between groups. Results Demographic characteristics were balanced between groups (N = 62; 53% female, mean age = 63 years, 94% type 2 diabetes), as were baseline measures. After 6 months, pain decreased with UC+TxtM from 6.3 to 5.5 and with UC from 6.5 to 6.0, with no difference between groups. UC+TxtM but not UC was associated with significant improvements from baseline on all SDSCA subscales. On diabetes health beliefs, UC+TxtM patients reported significantly increased benefits and reduced barriers and susceptibility relative to UC at 6 months. A1C declined in both groups, but neither change was significant relative to baseline. Conclusions Patients with pDPN who receive twice-daily text messages regarding diabetes management reported reduced pain relative to baseline, although this change was not significant compared with usual care. In addition, text messaging was associated with increased self-management activities and improved diabetes health beliefs and total self-care. These results warrant further investigation.

  20. Implementation of Text-Messaging and Social Media Strategies in a Multilevel Childhood Obesity Prevention Intervention: Process Evaluation Results.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Loh, Ivory H; Schwendler, Teresa; Trude, Angela C B; Anderson Steeves, Elizabeth T; Cheskin, Lawrence J; Lange, Sarah; Gittelsohn, Joel

    2018-01-01

    Social media and text messaging show promise as public health interventions, but little evaluation of implementation exists. The B'more Healthy Communities for Kids (BHCK) was a multilevel, multicomponent (wholesalers, food stores, recreation centers) childhood obesity prevention trial that included social media and text-messaging components. The BHCK was implemented in 28 low-income areas of Baltimore City, Maryland, in 2 waves. The texting intervention targeted 241 low-income African American caregivers (of 283), who received 3 texts/week reinforcing key messages, providing nutrition information, and weekly goals. Regular posting on social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter) targeted community members and local stakeholders. High implementation standards were set a priori (57 for social media, 11 for texting), with low implementation defined as social media implementation improved from low-moderate to high reach, dose delivered, and fidelity. Text messaging increased from moderate to high in reach and dose delivered, fidelity decreased from high to moderate. Data were used to monitor and revise the BHCK intervention throughout implementation. Our model for evaluating text messaging-based and social media-based interventions may be applicable to other settings.

  1. Cute Boys or Game Boys? The Embodiment of Femininity and Masculinity in Young Norwegians’ Text Message Love-Projects

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lin Prøitz

    2005-01-01

    Full Text Available By looking at young Norwegians’ text messages in sexual romantic negotiations, this article examines whether text messages may provide a site for performing femininity and masculinity in ways that subvert traditional conceptions of these constructs. Although various studies on gender, sexuality and media [1] have consistently indicated gender specific usage/performances which in this article is indicated and supported by the study’s young informants’ own formulations, the discourse analysis approach employed a more complex image. Here, I focus on how the young people indicate and translate their modes and body-language into texts, paying particular attention to how signs of femininity and masculinity emerge in text message love-projects, I argue that especially for young males, text messages in love-projects offer a site where in particular young males may perform masculinity in counter-traditional ways. The article is a part of a long study of young Norwegian’s usages, self-understanding and gender performances through text message communication. [[1] Döring, Hellwig and Klimsa, 2004, Hareide 2002, Johnsen 2000, Lee and Sohn, 2004, Ling 1998, 1999, 2002, 2004, 2005, Skog 2000, 2002

  2. Teens and Mobile Phones: Text Messaging Explodes as Teens Embrace It as the Centerpiece of Their Communication Strategies with Friends

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lenhart, Amanda; Ling, Rich; Campbell, Scott; Purcell, Kristen

    2010-01-01

    Daily text messaging among American teens has shot up in the past 18 months, from 38% of teens texting friends daily in February of 2008 to 54% of teens texting daily in September 2009. And it's not just frequency--teens are sending enormous quantities of text messages a day. Half of teens send 50 or more text messages a day, or 1,500 texts a…

  3. The effect of text messaging on hospital visits and blood pressure ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Background: Non-attendance to hospital appointment and non-adherence to blood pressure lowering medication are major factors in sub-optimal control of high blood pressure. The aim of the study was to assess the effect of text messaging on improving hospital visits and blood pressure control in adult hypertensives in ...

  4. Acceptability, language, and structure of text message-based behavioral interventions for high-risk adolescent females: a qualitative study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ranney, Megan L; Choo, Esther K; Cunningham, Rebecca M; Spirito, Anthony; Thorsen, Margaret; Mello, Michael J; Morrow, Kathleen

    2014-07-01

    To elucidate key elements surrounding acceptability/feasibility, language, and structure of a text message-based preventive intervention for high-risk adolescent females. We recruited high-risk 13- to 17-year-old females screening positive for past-year peer violence and depressive symptoms, during emergency department visits for any chief complaint. Participants completed semistructured interviews exploring preferences around text message preventive interventions. Interviews were conducted by trained interviewers, audio-recorded, and transcribed verbatim. A coding structure was iteratively developed using thematic and content analysis. Each transcript was double coded. NVivo 10 was used to facilitate analysis. Saturation was reached after 20 interviews (mean age 15.4; 55% white; 40% Hispanic; 85% with cell phone access). (1) Acceptability/feasibility themes: A text-message intervention was felt to support and enhance existing coping strategies. Participants had a few concerns about privacy and cost. Peer endorsement may increase uptake. (2) Language themes: Messages should be simple and positive. Tone should be conversational but not slang filled. (3) Structural themes: Messages may be automated but must be individually tailored on a daily basis. Both predetermined (automatic) and as-needed messages are requested. Dose and timing of content should be varied according to participants' needs. Multimedia may be helpful but is not necessary. High-risk adolescent females seeking emergency department care are enthusiastic about a text message-based preventive intervention. Incorporating thematic results on language and structure can inform development of future text messaging interventions for adolescent girls. Concerns about cost and privacy may be able to be addressed through the process of recruitment and introduction to the intervention. Copyright © 2014 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  5. Validation of mobile phone text messages for nicotine and tobacco risk communication among college students: A content analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khalil, Georges E.; Calabro, Karen S.; Crook, Brittani; Machado, Tamara C.; Perry, Cheryl L.; Prokhorov, Alexander V.

    2018-01-01

    INTRODUCTION In the United States, young adults have the highest prevalence of tobacco use. The dissemination of mobile phone text messages is a growing strategy for tobacco risk communication among young adults. However, little has been done concerning the design and validation of such text messages. The Texas Tobacco Center of Regulatory Science (Texas-TCORS) has developed a library of messages based on framing (gain- or loss-framed), depth (simple or complex) and appeal (emotional or rational). This study validated the library based on depth and appeal, identified text messages that may need improvement, and explored new themes. METHODS The library formed the study sample (N=976 messages). The Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) software of 2015 was used to code for word count, word length and frequency of emotional and cognitive words. Analyses of variance, logistic regression and scatter plots were conducted for validation. RESULTS In all, 874 messages agreed with LIWC-coding. Several messages did not agree with LIWC. Ten messages designed to be complex indicated simplicity, while 51 messages designed to be rational exhibited no cognitive words. New relevant themes were identified, such as health (e.g. ‘diagnosis’, ‘cancer’), death (e.g. ‘dead’, ‘lethal’) and social connotations (e.g. ‘parents’, ‘friends’). CONCLUSIONS Nicotine and tobacco researchers can safely use, for young adults, messages from the Texas-TCORS library to convey information in the intended style. Future work may expand upon the new themes. Findings will be utilized to develop new campaigns, so that risks of nicotine and tobacco products can be widely disseminated.

  6. Validation of mobile phone text messages for nicotine and tobacco risk communication among college students: A content analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khalil, Georges E; Calabro, Karen S; Crook, Brittani; Machado, Tamara C; Perry, Cheryl L; Prokhorov, Alexander V

    2018-02-01

    In the United States, young adults have the highest prevalence of tobacco use. The dissemination of mobile phone text messages is a growing strategy for tobacco risk communication among young adults. However, little has been done concerning the design and validation of such text messages. The Texas Tobacco Center of Regulatory Science (Texas-TCORS) has developed a library of messages based on framing (gain- or loss-framed), depth (simple or complex) and appeal (emotional or rational). This study validated the library based on depth and appeal, identified text messages that may need improvement, and explored new themes. The library formed the study sample (N=976 messages). The Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) software of 2015 was used to code for word count, word length and frequency of emotional and cognitive words. Analyses of variance, logistic regression and scatter plots were conducted for validation. In all, 874 messages agreed with LIWC-coding. Several messages did not agree with LIWC. Ten messages designed to be complex indicated simplicity, while 51 messages designed to be rational exhibited no cognitive words. New relevant themes were identified, such as health (e.g. 'diagnosis', 'cancer'), death (e.g. 'dead', 'lethal') and social connotations (e.g. 'parents', 'friends'). Nicotine and tobacco researchers can safely use, for young adults, messages from the Texas-TCORS library to convey information in the intended style. Future work may expand upon the new themes. Findings will be utilized to develop new campaigns, so that risks of nicotine and tobacco products can be widely disseminated.

  7. Optimizing Short Message Text Sentiment Analysis for Mobile Device Forensics

    OpenAIRE

    Aboluwarin , Oluwapelumi; Andriotis , Panagiotis; Takasu , Atsuhiro; Tryfonas , Theo

    2016-01-01

    Part 2: MOBILE DEVICE FORENSICS; International audience; Mobile devices are now the dominant medium for communications. Humans express various emotions when communicating with others and these communications can be analyzed to deduce their emotional inclinations. Natural language processing techniques have been used to analyze sentiment in text. However, most research involving sentiment analysis in the short message domain (SMS and Twitter) do not account for the presence of non-dictionary w...

  8. 3 CFR 13513 - Executive Order 13513 of October 1, 2009. Federal Leadership on Reducing Text Messaging While...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... leadership in improving safety on our roads and highways and to enhance the efficiency of Federal contracting... highlight a growing danger on our roads. Text messaging causes drivers to take their eyes off the road and... prohibit text messaging while driving, and conducting education, awareness, and other outreach for Federal...

  9. The Effectiveness of Mobile Phone Text Messaging in Improving Medication Adherence for Patients with Chronic Diseases: A Systematic Review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ershad Sarabi, Roghayeh; Sadoughi, Farahnaz; Jamshidi Orak, Roohangiz; Bahaadinbeigy, Kambiz

    2016-05-01

    Medication non-adherence is a commonly observed problem in the self-administration of treatment, regardless of the disease type. Text messaging reminders, as electronic reminders, provide an opportunity to improve medication adherence. In this study, we aimed to provide evidence addressing the question of whether text message reminders were effective in improving patients' adherence to medication. We carried out a systematic literature search, using the five electronic bibliographic databases: PubMed, Embase, PsycINFO, CINAHL, and the Cochrane central register of controlled trials. Studies were included on the basis of whether they examined the benefits and effects of short-message service (SMS) interventions on medication adherence. The results of this systematic review indicated that text messaging interventions have improved patients' medication adherence rate (85%, 29.34). Included in the review, those who had problems with adherence, or those whom text messaging was most helpful had HIV, asthma, diabetes, schizophrenia and heart disease (73.5%). The period of intervention varied from 1 week to 14 months. The most common study design was randomized controlled trials (RCTs) (66%) carried out in the developed countries. This study demonstrated the potential of mobile phone text messaging for medication non-adherence problem solving.

  10. Development of macaronic Hindi-English ‘Hinglish’ text message content for a coronary heart disease secondary prevention programme

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thakkar, Jay; Karthikeyan, Ganesan; Purohit, Gaurav; Thakkar, Swetha; Sharma, Jitender; Verma, Sunilkumar; Parakh, Neeraj; Seth, Sandeep; Mishra, Sundeep; Yadav, Rakesh; Singh, Sandeep; Joshi, Rohina; Thiagalingam, Aravinda; Chow, Clara K; Redfern, Julie

    2016-01-01

    Background Coronary heart disease (CHD) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in India. Text message based prevention programs have demonstrated reduction in cardiovascular risk factors among patients with CHD in selected populations. Customisation is important as behaviour change is influenced by culture and linguistic context. Objectives To customise a mobile phone text message program supporting behaviour and treatment adherence in CHD for delivery in North India. Methods We used an iterative process with mixed methods involving three phases: (1) Initial translation, (2) Review and incorporation of feedback including review by cardiologists in India to assess alignment with local guidelines and by consumers on perceived utility and clarity and (3) Pilot testing of message management software. Results Messages were translated in three ways: symmetrical translation, asymmetrical translation and substitution. Feedback from cardiologists and 25 patients was incorporated to develop the final bank. Patients reported Hinglish messages were easy to understand (93%) and useful (78%). The software located in Australia successfully delivered messages to participants based in Delhi-surrounds (India). Conclusions Our process for customisation of a text message program considered cultural, linguistic and the medical context of potential participants. This is important in optimising intervention fidelity across populations enabling examination of the generalisability of text message programs across populations. We also demonstrated the customised program was acceptable to patients in India and that a centralised cross-country delivery model was feasible. This process could be used as a guide for other groups seeking to customise their programs. Trial registration number TEXTMEDS Australia (Parent study)—ACTRN 12613000793718. PMID:27752288

  11. Use of mobile phone text message reminders in health care services: a narrative literature review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kannisto, Kati Anneli; Koivunen, Marita Hannele; Välimäki, Maritta Anneli

    2014-10-17

    Mobile text messages are a widely recognized communication method in societies, as the global penetration of the technology approaches 100% worldwide. Systematic knowledge is still lacking on how the mobile telephone text messaging (short message service, SMS) has been used in health care services. This study aims to review the literature on the use of mobile phone text message reminders in health care. We conducted a systematic literature review of studies on mobile telephone text message reminders. The data sources used were PubMed (MEDLINE), CINAHL, Proquest Databases/ PsycINFO, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, Scopus, and hand searching since 2003. Studies reporting the use of SMS intended to remind patients in health services were included. Given the heterogeneity in the studies, descriptive characteristics, purpose of the study, response rates, description of the intervention, dose and timing, instruments, outcome measures, and outcome data from the studies were synthesized using a narrative approach. From 911 initial citations, 60 studies were included in the review. The studies reported a variety of use for SMS. Mobile telephone text message reminders were used as the only intervention in 73% (44/60) of the studies, and in 27% (16/60) of the remaining studies, SMS was connected to another comprehensive health intervention system. SMS reminders were sent to different patient groups: patients with HIV/AIDS (15%, 9/60) and diabetes (13%, 8/60) being the most common groups. The response rates of the studies varied from 22-100%. Typically, the text message reminders were sent daily. The time before the specific intervention to be rendered varied from 10 minutes (eg, medication taken) to 2 weeks (eg, scheduled appointment). A wide range of different evaluation methods and outcomes were used to assess the impact of SMS varying from existing databases (eg, attendance rate based on medical records), questionnaires, and physiological measures. About three quarters of the

  12. The Self-perception of Text-message Dependency Scale (STDS): Psychometric update based on a United States sample.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liese, Bruce S; Benau, Erik M; Atchley, Paul; Reed, Derek; Becirevic, Amel; Kaplan, Brent

    2018-05-14

    Some have suggested that text messaging is an addictive behavior. However, this characterization is uncertain, partly due to lack of well-validated measures of text messaging attitudes and behaviors. One standard instrument for measuring text messaging attitudes and behaviors is the Self-perception of Text-message Dependency Scale (STDS), though the psychometric properties of this scale have only been examined with a sample of Japanese youth. The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the STDS in the United States to determine its utility as a measure of text messaging dependence. We were interested in examining the factor structure and determining the extent to which this scale would correlate with two important outcome measures: motor vehicle accidents (MVAs) and moving violations. We analyzed data from 468 adults (age 18-74; 274 women) recruited via Amazon's Mechanical Turk (mTurk) service. Participants completed the STDS and provided information about their driving-related incidents in the past year. First we performed a confirmatory factor analysis, which supported the instrument's original factor structure. Then we tested the relationship between scores on the STDS and two important variables, MVAs and moving violations. We found that the STDS significantly correlated with both MVAs and moving violations. The present study confirms that the STDS is a potentially useful instrument for studying texting dependence in the United States and with adults of all ages. The instrument may be particularly useful in predicting motor vehicle outcomes.

  13. Punctuation and Capitalization in Text Messages Sent from Traditional Mobile Phones versus Smartphones: Implications for Higher Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johnson, Genevieve

    2016-01-01

    Technology often mediates, and thus influences, written language conventions such as punctuation and capitalization. Fifty university students sent two text messages, one with an alphanumeric multi-press keypad mobile phone (i.e., Nokia 1101) and another with a full QWERTY keypad smartphone (i.e., Apple iPhone 4). Compared to text messages sent…

  14. Validation of mobile phone text messages for nicotine and tobacco risk communication among college students: A content analysis

    OpenAIRE

    Georges Elias Khalil; Karen S. Calabro; Brittani Crook; Tamara C Machado; Cheryl L. Perry; Alexander V. Prokhorov

    2018-01-01

    Introduction In the United States, young adults have the highest prevalence of tobacco use. The dissemination of mobile phone text messages is a growing strategy for tobacco risk communication among young adults. However, little has been done concerning the design and validation of such text messages. The Texas Tobacco Center of Regulatory Science (Texas-TCORS) has developed a library of messages based on framing (gain- or loss-framed), depth (simple or complex) and appea...

  15. The efficacy of mobile phone-based text message interventions ('Happy Quit') for smoking cessation in China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liao, Yanhui; Wu, Qiuxia; Tang, Jinsong; Zhang, Fengyu; Wang, Xuyi; Qi, Chang; He, Haoyu; Long, Jiang; Kelly, Brian C; Cohen, Joanna

    2016-08-19

    Considering the extreme shortage of smoking cessation services in China, and the acceptability, feasibility and efficacy of mobile phone-based text message interventions for quitting smoking in other countries, here we propose a study of "the efficacy of mobile phone-based text message interventions ('Happy Quit') for smoking cessation in China". The primary objective of this proposed project is to assess whether a program of widely accessed mobile phone-based text message interventions ('Happy Quit') will be effective at helping people in China who smoke, to quit. Based on the efficacy of previous studies in smoking cessation, we hypothesize that 'Happy Quit' will be an effective, feasible and affordable smoking cessation program in China. In this single-blind, randomized trial, undertaken in China, about 2000 smokers willing to make a quit attempt will be randomly allocated, using an independent telephone randomization system that includes a minimization algorithm balancing for sex (male, female), age (19-34 or >34 years), educational level (≤ or >12 years), and Fagerstrom score for nicotine addiction (≤5, >5), to 'Happy Quit', comprising motivational messages and behavioral-change support, or to a control group that receives text messages unrelated to quitting. Messages will be developed to be suitable for Chinese. A pilot study will be conducted before the intervention to modify the library of messages and interventions. The primary outcome will be self-reported continuous smoking abstinence. A secondary outcome will be point prevalence of abstinence. Abstinence will be assessed at six time points (4, 8, 12, 16, 20 and 24 weeks post-intervention). A third outcome will be reductions in number of cigarettes smoked per day. The results will provide valuable insights into bridging the gap between need and services received for smoking cessation interventions and tobacco use prevention in China. It will also serve as mHealth model for extending the public

  16. Development and Testing of an Automated 4-Day Text Messaging Guidance as an Aid for Improving Colonoscopy Preparation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Walter, Benjamin Michael; Klare, Peter; Neu, Bruno; Schmid, Roland M; von Delius, Stefan

    2016-06-21

    In gastroenterology a sufficient colon cleansing improves adenoma detection rate and prevents the need for preterm repeat colonoscopies due to invalid preparation. It has been shown that patient education is of major importance for improvement of colon cleansing. Objective of this study was to assess the function of an automated text messaging (short message service, SMS)-supported colonoscopy preparation starting 4 days before colonoscopy appointment. After preevaluation to assess mobile phone usage in the patient population for relevance of this approach, a Web-based, automated SMS text messaging system was developed, following which a single-center feasibility study at a tertiary care center was performed. Patients scheduled for outpatient colonoscopy were invited to participate. Patients enrolled in the study group received automated information about dietary recommendations and bowel cleansing during colonoscopy preparation. Data of outpatient colonoscopies with regular preparation procedure were used for pair matching and served as control. Primary end point was feasibility of SMS text messaging support in colonoscopy preparation assessed as stable and satisfactory function of the system. Secondary end points were quality of bowel preparation according to the Boston Bowel Preparation Scale (BBPS) and patient satisfaction with SMS text messaging-provided information assessed by a questionnaire. Web-based SMS text messaging-supported colonoscopy preparation was successful and feasible in 19 of 20 patients. Mean (standard error of the mean, SEM) total BBPS score was slightly higher in the SMS group than in the control group (7.3, SEM 0.3 vs 6.4, SEM 0.2) and for each colonic region (left, transverse, and right colon). Patient satisfaction regarding SMS text messaging-based information was high. Using SMS for colonoscopy preparation with 4 days' guidance including dietary recommendation is a new approach to improve colonoscopy preparation. Quality of colonoscopy

  17. Leveraging text messaging and mobile technology to support pediatric obesity-related behavior change: a qualitative study using parent focus groups and interviews.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sharifi, Mona; Dryden, Eileen M; Horan, Christine M; Price, Sarah; Marshall, Richard; Hacker, Karen; Finkelstein, Jonathan A; Taveras, Elsie M

    2013-12-06

    Text messaging (short message service, SMS) is a widely accessible and potentially cost-effective medium for encouraging behavior change. Few studies have examined text messaging interventions to influence child health behaviors or explored parental perceptions of mobile technologies to support behavior change among children. Our aim was to examine parental acceptability and preferences for text messaging to support pediatric obesity-related behavior change. We conducted focus groups and follow-up interviews with parents of overweight and obese children, aged 6-12 years, seen for "well-child" care in eastern Massachusetts. A professional moderator used a semistructured discussion guide and sample text messages to catalyze group discussions. Seven participants then received 3 weeks of text messages before a follow-up one-on-one telephone interview. All focus groups and interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. Using a framework analysis approach, we systematically coded and analyzed group and interview data to identify salient and convergent themes. We reached thematic saturation after five focus groups and seven follow-up interviews with a total of 31 parents of diverse race/ethnicity and education levels. Parents were generally enthusiastic about receiving text messages to support healthy behaviors for their children and preferred them to paper or email communication because they are brief and difficult to ignore. Participants anticipated high responsiveness to messaging endorsed by their child's doctor and indicated they would appreciate messages 2-3 times/week or more as long as content remains relevant. Suggestions for maintaining message relevance included providing specific strategies for implementation and personalizing information. Most felt the negative features of text messaging (eg, limited message size) could be overcome by providing links within messages to other media including email or websites. Text messaging is a promising medium for

  18. Opening communication channels with people living with HIV using mobile phone text messaging: insights from the CAMPS trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mbuagbaw, Lawrence; Thabane, Lehana; Ongolo-Zogo, Pierre

    2013-04-04

    Using two-way mobile phone text messages to improve adherence to antiretroviral medication enhances communication between patients and health workers. We describe the implications of participants' responses to text messages in the Cameroon Mobile Phone SMS (CAMPS) trial. This is a cross-sectional analysis of data from the intervention arm of the CAMPS trial. CAMPS was a randomized controlled trial of motivational text messaging versus usual care to improve adherence to antiretroviral medication among people living with HIV in Yaounde, Cameroon (n = 200) over a 6 month period. Participants in the intervention arm (n = 101) were given a contact phone number, but were not required to respond to their reminder messages. If they did, their responses were noted and reported as counts and percentages. We received 99 phone calls and 55 text messages (154 responses) from 48 participants during the study period. The median number of responses was 1 (first quartile [Q1]: 1; third quartile [Q3]: 3). Half (n = 79, 51.1%) of them were expressions of gratitude. The rest included requests for logistical (n = 21, 13.6%), medical (n = 20, 12.9%) and financial (n = 11, 7.1%) support. Initiating two-way mobile communication opens more channels for people living with HIV to express unmet needs. Researchers, policy makers and clinicians should be ready to respond to the needs expressed by patients who respond to text messages. Pan-African Clinical Trials Registry: PACTR201011000261458;

  19. TextTB: A Mixed Method Pilot Study Evaluating Acceptance, Feasibility, and Exploring Initial Efficacy of a Text Messaging Intervention to Support TB Treatment Adherence

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sarah Iribarren

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Objective. To assess a text messaging intervention to promote tuberculosis (TB treatment adherence. Methods. A mixed-methods pilot study was conducted within a public pulmonary-specialized hospital in Argentina. Patients newly diagnosed with TB who were 18 or older, and had mobile phone access were recruited and randomized to usual care plus either medication calendar (n=19 or text messaging intervention (n=18 for the first two months of treatment. Primary outcomes were feasibility and acceptability; secondary outcomes explored initial efficacy. Results. Feasibility was evidenced by high access to mobile phones, familiarity with texting, most phones limited to basic features, a low rate of participant refusal, and many describing suboptimal TB understanding. Acceptability was evidenced by participants indicating feeling cared for, supported, responsible for their treatment, and many self-reporting adherence without a reminder. Participants in the texting group self-reported adherence on average 77% of the days whereas only 53% in calendar group returned diaries. Exploring initial efficacy, microscopy testing was low and treatment outcomes were similar in both groups. Conclusion. The texting intervention was well accepted and feasible with greater reporting of adherence using text messaging than the diary. Further evaluation of the texting intervention is warranted.

  20. Development and Usability of REACH: A Tailored Theory-Based Text Messaging Intervention for Disadvantaged Adults With Type 2 Diabetes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nelson, Lyndsay A; Mayberry, Lindsay S; Wallston, Kenneth; Kripalani, Sunil; Bergner, Erin M; Osborn, Chandra Y

    2016-09-08

    Among adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), adherence to recommended self-care activities is suboptimal, especially among racial and ethnic minorities with low income. Self-care nonadherence is associated with having worse glycemic control and diabetes complications. Text messaging interventions are improving the self-care of adults with T2DM, but few have been tested with disadvantaged populations. To develop Rapid Education/Encouragement And Communications for Health (REACH), a tailored, text messaging intervention to support the self-care adherence of disadvantaged patients with T2DM, based on the Information-Motivation-Behavioral skills model. We then tested REACH's usability to make improvements before evaluating its effects. We developed REACH's content and functionality using an empirical and theory-based approach, findings from a previously pilot-tested intervention, and the expertise of our interdisciplinary research team. We recruited 36 adults with T2DM from Federally Qualified Health Centers to participate in 1 of 3 rounds of usability testing. For 2 weeks, participants received daily text messages assessing and promoting self-care, including tailored messages addressing users' unique barriers to adherence, and weekly text messages with adherence feedback. We analyzed quantitative and qualitative user feedback and system-collected data to improve REACH. Participants were, on average, 52.4 (SD 9.5) years old, 56% (20/36) female, 63% (22/35) were a racial or ethnic minority, and 67% (22/33) had an income less than US $35,000. About half were taking insulin, and average hemoglobin A1c level was 8.2% (SD 2.2%). We identified issues (eg, user concerns with message phrasing, technical restrictions with responding to assessment messages) and made improvements between testing rounds. Overall, participants favorably rated the ease of understanding (mean 9.6, SD 0.7) and helpfulness (mean 9.3, SD 1.4) of self-care promoting text messages on a scale of 1

  1. How voter mobilization from short text messages travels within households and families

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bhatti, Yosef; Dahlgaard, Jens Olav; Hansen, Jonas Hedegaard

    2017-01-01

    Through two large GOTV field experiments in two different elections, we investigate the spillover effect to other household members and family members outside the household. We mobilized young voters with cell phone text messages, a campaign tactic unlikely to be observed by other persons than th...

  2. Mobile Phone Text Messages to Support Treatment Adherence in Adults With High Blood Pressure (SMS-Text Adherence Support [StAR]): A Single-Blind, Randomized Trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bobrow, Kirsten; Farmer, Andrew J; Springer, David; Shanyinde, Milensu; Yu, Ly-Mee; Brennan, Thomas; Rayner, Brian; Namane, Mosedi; Steyn, Krisela; Tarassenko, Lionel; Levitt, Naomi

    2016-02-09

    We assessed the effect of automated treatment adherence support delivered via mobile phone short message system (SMS) text messages on blood pressure. In this pragmatic, single-blind, 3-arm, randomized trial (SMS-Text Adherence Support [StAR]) undertaken in South Africa, patients treated for high blood pressure were randomly allocated in a 1:1:1 ratio to information only, interactive SMS text messaging, or usual care. The primary outcome was change in systolic blood pressure at 12 months from baseline measured with a validated oscillometric device. All trial staff were masked to treatment allocation. Analyses were intention to treat. Between June 26, 2012, and November 23, 2012, 1372 participants were randomized to receive information-only SMS text messages (n=457), interactive SMS text messages (n=458), or usual care (n=457). Primary outcome data were available for 1256 participants (92%). At 12 months, the mean adjusted change in systolic blood pressure compared with usual care was -2.2 mm Hg (95% confidence interval, -4.4 to -0.04) with information-only SMS and -1.6 mm Hg (95% confidence interval, -3.7 to 0.6) with interactive SMS. Odds ratios for the proportion of participants with a blood pressure high blood pressure, we found a small reduction in systolic blood pressure control compared with usual care at 12 months. There was no evidence that an interactive intervention increased this effect. URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT02019823. South African National Clinical Trials Register, number SANCTR DOH-27-1212-386; Pan Africa Trial Register, number PACTR201411000724141. © 2016 American Heart Association, Inc.

  3. Text Message Support for Weight Loss in Patients With Prediabetes: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fischer, Henry H; Fischer, Ilana P; Pereira, Rocio I; Furniss, Anna L; Rozwadowski, Jeanne M; Moore, Susan L; Durfee, Michael J; Raghunath, Silvia G; Tsai, Adam G; Havranek, Edward P

    2016-08-01

    Although the benefits of in-person Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) classes for diabetes prevention have been demonstrated in trials, effectiveness in clinical practice is limited by low participation rates. This study explores whether text message support enhances weight loss in patients offered DPP classes. English- and Spanish-speaking patients with prediabetes (n = 163) were randomized to the control group, which only received an invitation to DPP classes as defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or to the text message-augmented intervention group, which also received text messages adapted from the DPP curriculum for 12 months. Mean weight decreased 0.6 pounds (95% CI -2.7 to 1.6) in the control group and 2.6 pounds (95% CI -5.5 to 0.2) in the intervention group (P value 0.05). Three percent weight loss was achieved by 21.5% of participants in the control group (95% CI 12.5-30.6), compared with 38.5% in the intervention group (95% CI 27.7-49.3) (absolute difference 17.0%; P value 0.02). Mean glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) increased by 0.19% or 2.1 mmol/mol (95% CI -0.1 to 0.5%) and decreased by 0.09% or 1.0 mmol/mol (95% CI -0.2 to 0.0%) in the control group and intervention participants, respectively (absolute difference 0.28%; P value 0.07). Stratification by language demonstrated a significant treatment effect in Spanish speakers but not in English speakers. Text message support can lead to clinically significant weight loss in patients with prediabetes. Further study assessing effect by primary language and in an operational setting is warranted. © 2016 by the American Diabetes Association. Readers may use this article as long as the work is properly cited, the use is educational and not for profit, and the work is not altered.

  4. A comparison between phone-based psychotherapy with and without text messaging support in between sessions for crisis patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Furber, Gareth; Jones, Gabrielle Margaret; Healey, David; Bidargaddi, Niranjan

    2014-10-08

    Few studies have tested whether individually tailored text messaging interventions have an effect on clinical outcomes when used to supplement traditional psychotherapy. This is despite the potential to improve outcomes through symptom monitoring, prompts for between-session activities, and psychoeducation. The intent of the study was to explore the use of individually tailored between-session text messaging, or short message service (SMS), as an adjunct to telephone-based psychotherapy for consumers who present to the Emergency Department (ED) in situational and/or emotional crises. Over a 4-month period, two therapists offered 68 prospective consumers of a telephone-based psychotherapy service individually tailored between-session text messaging alongside their telephone-based psychotherapy. Attendance and clinical outcomes (depression, anxiety, functional impairment) of those receiving messages were compared against a historical control group (n=157) who received telephone psychotherapy only. A total of 66% (45/68) of the consumers offered SMS accepted the intervention. A total of 432 messages were sent over the course of the trial, the majority involving some kind of psychoeducation or reminders to engage in therapy goals. There were no significant differences in clinical outcomes between consumers who received the SMS and those in the control group. There was a trend for participants in the intervention group to attend fewer sessions than those in the control group (mean 3.7, SD 1.9 vs mean 4.4, SD 2.3). Both groups showed significant improvement over time. Individually tailored SMS were not found to improve clinical outcomes in consumers receiving telephone-based psychotherapy, but the study was underpowered, given the effect sizes noted and the significance level chosen. Given the ease of implementation and positive feedback from therapists and clients, individually tailored text messages should be explored further in future trials with a focus on enhancing

  5. Improving Anomaly Detection for Text-Based Protocols by Exploiting Message Structures

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Christian M. Mueller

    2010-12-01

    Full Text Available Service platforms using text-based protocols need to be protected against attacks. Machine-learning algorithms with pattern matching can be used to detect even previously unknown attacks. In this paper, we present an extension to known Support Vector Machine (SVM based anomaly detection algorithms for the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP. Our contribution is to extend the amount of different features used for classification (feature space by exploiting the structure of SIP messages, which reduces the false positive rate. Additionally, we show how combining our approach with attribute reduction significantly improves throughput.

  6. Text messaging reminders for influenza vaccine in primary care: protocol for a cluster randomised controlled trial (TXT4FLUJAB).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Herrett, Emily; van Staa, Tjeerd; Free, Caroline; Smeeth, Liam

    2014-05-02

    The UK government recommends that at least 75% of people aged under 64 with certain conditions receive an annual influenza vaccination. Primary care practices often fall short of this target and strategies to increase vaccine uptake are required. Text messaging reminders are already used in 30% of practices to remind patients about vaccination, but there has been no trial addressing their effectiveness in increasing influenza vaccine uptake in the UK. The aims of the study are (1) to develop the methodology for conducting cluster randomised trials of text messaging interventions utilising routine electronic health records and (2) to assess the effectiveness of using a text messaging influenza vaccine reminder in achieving an increase in influenza vaccine uptake in patients aged 18-64 with chronic conditions, compared with standard care. This cluster randomised trial will recruit general practices across three settings in English primary care (Clinical Practice Research Datalink, ResearchOne and London iPLATO text messaging software users) and randomise them to either standard care or a text messaging campaign to eligible patients. Flu vaccine uptake will be ascertained using routinely collected, anonymised electronic patient records. This protocol outlines the proposed study design and analysis methods. This study will determine the effectiveness of text messaging vaccine reminders in primary care in increasing influenza vaccine uptake, and will strengthen the methodology for using electronic health records in cluster randomised trials of text messaging interventions. This trial was approved by the Surrey Borders Ethics Committee (13/LO/0872). The trial results will be disseminated at national conferences and published in a peer-reviewed medical journal. The results will also be distributed to the Primary Care Research Network and to all participating general practices. This study is registered at controlled-trials.com ISRCTN48840025, July 2013.

  7. Effects of text messaging in addition to emails on physical activity among university and college employees in the UK.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Suggs, Suzanne; Blake, Holly; Bardus, Marco; Lloyd, Scott

    2013-04-01

    To test the effects of adding text messages to weekly email communications on recipients' total physical activity (leisure-time; workplace; domestic and garden; and active transportation) in employees of universities and colleges in the UK. A randomised trial with two study groups (email only or email plus text messaging for 12 weeks) was implemented at five workplaces. Data were collected at baseline, immediately after, and four weeks after the intervention. Intervention effects on physical activity were evaluated using latent growth modelling. Total physical activity decreased over time in both groups but the decrease was non-significant. The only significant difference between groups was found for workplace physical activity, with the group receiving emails and text messages having a linear decrease of 2.81 Metabolic Equivalent h/week (β = -0.31, p = 0.035) compared to the email only group. Sending employees two additional text messages resulted in less physical activity. Further investigation is needed to understand whether text messaging may play a beneficial role in promoting physical activity in workplace settings. © The Author(s) 2013 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav.

  8. Automatic topic identification of health-related messages in online health community using text classification.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lu, Yingjie

    2013-01-01

    To facilitate patient involvement in online health community and obtain informative support and emotional support they need, a topic identification approach was proposed in this paper for identifying automatically topics of the health-related messages in online health community, thus assisting patients in reaching the most relevant messages for their queries efficiently. Feature-based classification framework was presented for automatic topic identification in our study. We first collected the messages related to some predefined topics in a online health community. Then we combined three different types of features, n-gram-based features, domain-specific features and sentiment features to build four feature sets for health-related text representation. Finally, three different text classification techniques, C4.5, Naïve Bayes and SVM were adopted to evaluate our topic classification model. By comparing different feature sets and different classification techniques, we found that n-gram-based features, domain-specific features and sentiment features were all considered to be effective in distinguishing different types of health-related topics. In addition, feature reduction technique based on information gain was also effective to improve the topic classification performance. In terms of classification techniques, SVM outperformed C4.5 and Naïve Bayes significantly. The experimental results demonstrated that the proposed approach could identify the topics of online health-related messages efficiently.

  9. Stepwise Development a Text Messaging-Based Bullying Prevention Program for Middle School Students (BullyDown).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ybarra, Michele L; Prescott, Tonya L; Espelage, Dorothy L

    2016-06-13

    Bullying is a significant public health issue among middle school-aged youth. Current prevention programs have only a moderate impact. Cell phone text messaging technology (mHealth) can potentially overcome existing challenges, particularly those that are structural (e.g., limited time that teachers can devote to non-educational topics). To date, the description of the development of empirically-based mHealth-delivered bullying prevention programs are lacking in the literature. To describe the development of BullyDown, a text messaging-based bullying prevention program for middle school students, guided by the Social-Emotional Learning model. We implemented five activities over a 12-month period: (1) national focus groups (n=37 youth) to gather acceptability of program components; (2) development of content; (3) a national Content Advisory Team (n=9 youth) to confirm content tone; and (4) an internal team test of software functionality followed by a beta test (n=22 youth) to confirm the enrollment protocol and the feasibility and acceptability of the program. Recruitment experiences suggested that Facebook advertising was less efficient than using a recruitment firm to recruit youth nationally, and recruiting within schools for the pilot test was feasible. Feedback from the Content Advisory Team suggests a preference for 2-4 brief text messages per day. Beta test findings suggest that BullyDown is both feasible and acceptable: 100% of youth completed the follow-up survey, 86% of whom liked the program. Text messaging appears to be a feasible and acceptable delivery method for bullying prevention programming delivered to middle school students.

  10. Social media, text messaging, and email-preferences of asthma patients between 12 and 40 years old.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baptist, Alan P; Thompson, Michael; Grossman, Karla Stoermer; Mohammed, Layla; Sy, Annie; Sanders, Georgiana M

    2011-10-01

    Electronic media such as social media (Facebook, Twitter, MySpace), email, and text messaging could be useful in the management of asthma. However, patient use and preferences for electronic media in asthma management is currently unknown. A survey was sent to asthma patients between 12-40 years of age. The survey collected demographic information, use of electronic media, interest in using electronic media to receive asthma information, and interest in using electronic media to communicate with a health care provider about asthma. Free text entries were encouraged. 145 completed surveys were returned. Text messaging, email, and Facebook were used at least weekly by a majority of respondents (82%, 77%, and 65%, respectively). Email was clearly the most preferred method to receive asthma information and to communicate with a physician. There was some interest in using Facebook or text messaging, whereas Myspace and Twitter had minimal interest. On logistic regression analysis, female and Black or Hispanic participants were more likely to have an interest in the use of electronic media for asthma care. Frequent users (>1X/week) of each electronic media type had greater enthusiasm for their incorporation into asthma care. Free text entries revealed that many participants felt social media sites were for connecting with friends rather than for health care, and privacy concerns were also raised. Electronic media offers a novel way to improve asthma care. Email was the most preferred method, though text messaging and social media sites like Facebook may be appropriate for certain patients.

  11. Daily text messages used as a method for assessing low back pain among workers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Burström, Lage; Jonsson, Håkan; Björ, Bodil; Hjalmarsson, Ulla; Nilsson, Tohr; Reuterwall, Christina; Wahlström, Jens

    2016-02-01

    To evaluate a method for collecting data concerning low back pain (LBP) using daily text messages and to characterize the reported LBP in terms of intensity, variability, and episodes. We conducted a cohort study of LBP among workers used by a mining company. The participants were asked to answer the question "How much pain have you had in your lower back in the last 24 hours on a scale from 0 to 10, where 0 = no pain and 10 = the worst pain imaginable" once a day for 5 weeks, with this process being repeated 6 months later. A total of 121 workers participated in the first period of data collection, and 108 participated in the second period. The daily response rate was 93% for both periods, and cluster analysis was shown to be a feasible statistical method for clustering LBP into subgroups of low, medium, and high pain. The daily text messages method also worked well for assessing the episodic nature of LBP. We have demonstrated a method for repeatedly measuring of LBP using daily text messages. The data permitted clustering into subgroups and could be used to define episodes of LBP. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  12. Communicating with the workforce during emergencies: developing an employee text messaging program in a local public health setting.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Karasz, Hilary N; Bogan, Sharon; Bosslet, Lindsay

    2014-01-01

    Short message service (SMS) text messaging can be useful for communicating information to public health employees and improving workforce situational awareness during emergencies. We sought to understand how the 1,500 employees at Public Health--Seattle & King County, Washington, perceived barriers to and benefits of participation in a voluntary, employer-based SMS program. Based on employee feedback, we developed the system, marketed it, and invited employees to opt in. The system was tested during an ice storm in January 2012. Employee concerns about opting into an SMS program included possible work encroachment during non-work time and receiving excessive irrelevant messages. Employees who received messages during the weather event reported high levels of satisfaction and perceived utility from the program. We conclude that text messaging is a feasible form of communication with employees during emergencies. Care should be taken to design and deploy a program that maximizes employee satisfaction.

  13. Exploring the longitudinal relationships between the use of grammar in text messaging and performance on grammatical tasks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wood, Clare; Kemp, Nenagh; Waldron, Sam

    2014-11-01

    Research has demonstrated that use of texting slang (textisms) when text messaging does not appear to impact negatively on children's literacy outcomes and may even benefit children's spelling attainment. However, less attention has been paid to the impact of text messaging on the development of children's and young people's understanding of grammar. This study therefore examined the interrelationships between children's and young adults' tendency to make grammatical violations when texting and their performance on formal assessments of spoken and written grammatical understanding, orthographic processing and spelling ability over the course of 1 year. Zero-order correlations showed patterns consistent with previous research on textism use and spelling, and there was no evidence of any negative associations between the development of the children's performance on the grammar tasks and their use of grammatical violations when texting. Adults' tendency to use ungrammatical word forms ('does you') was positively related to performance on the test of written grammar. Grammatical violations were found to be positively associated with growth in spelling for secondary school children. However, not all forms of violation were observed to be consistently used in samples of text messages taken 12 months apart or were characteristic of typical text messages. The need to differentiate between genuine errors and deliberate violation of rules is discussed, as are the educational implications of these findings. © 2014 The Authors. British Journal of Developmental Psychology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Psychological Society.

  14. Automated Text Messaging as an Adjunct to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Depression: A Clinical Trial

    OpenAIRE

    Aguilera, Adrian; Bruehlman-Senecal, Emma; Demasi, Orianna; Avila, Patricia

    2017-01-01

    Background: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for depression is efficacious, but effectiveness is limited when implemented in low-income settings due to engagement difficulties including nonadherence with skill-building homework and early discontinuation of treatment. Automated messaging can be used in clinical settings to increase dosage of depression treatment and encourage sustained engagement with psychotherapy. Objectives: The aim of this study was to test whether a text messag...

  15. The efficacy of mobile phone-based text message interventions (‘Happy Quit’ for smoking cessation in China

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yanhui Liao

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Considering the extreme shortage of smoking cessation services in China, and the acceptability, feasibility and efficacy of mobile phone-based text message interventions for quitting smoking in other countries, here we propose a study of “the efficacy of mobile phone-based text message interventions (‘Happy Quit’ for smoking cessation in China”. The primary objective of this proposed project is to assess whether a program of widely accessed mobile phone-based text message interventions (‘Happy Quit’ will be effective at helping people in China who smoke, to quit. Based on the efficacy of previous studies in smoking cessation, we hypothesize that ‘Happy Quit’ will be an effective, feasible and affordable smoking cessation program in China. Methods/Design In this single-blind, randomized trial, undertaken in China, about 2000 smokers willing to make a quit attempt will be randomly allocated, using an independent telephone randomization system that includes a minimization algorithm balancing for sex (male, female, age (19–34 or >34 years, educational level (≤ or >12 years, and Fagerstrom score for nicotine addiction (≤5, >5, to ‘Happy Quit’, comprising motivational messages and behavioral-change support, or to a control group that receives text messages unrelated to quitting. Messages will be developed to be suitable for Chinese. A pilot study will be conducted before the intervention to modify the library of messages and interventions. The primary outcome will be self-reported continuous smoking abstinence. A secondary outcome will be point prevalence of abstinence. Abstinence will be assessed at six time points (4, 8, 12, 16, 20 and 24 weeks post-intervention. A third outcome will be reductions in number of cigarettes smoked per day. Discussion/Implications The results will provide valuable insights into bridging the gap between need and services received for smoking cessation interventions and

  16. The effect of feedback by SMS-text messages and email on household electricity consumption

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gleerup, Maria; Larsen, Anders; Leth-Petersen, Søren

    2010-01-01

    This paper analyzes the effect of supplying feedback by text messages (SMS) and email about electricity consumption on the level of total household electricity consumption. An experiment was conducted in which 1,452 households were randomly allocated to three experimental groups and two control....... Results suggest that email and SMS messaging that communicated timely information about a household's 'exceptional' consumption periods (e.g. highest week of electricity use in past quarter) produced average reductions in total annual electricity use of about 3%. The feedback technology is cheap...

  17. A Pilot Randomized Trial of Text-Messaging for Symptom Awareness and Diabetes Knowledge in Adolescents With Type 1 Diabetes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Han, Yi; Faulkner, Melissa Spezia; Fritz, Heather; Fadoju, Doris; Muir, Andrew; Abowd, Gregory D.; Head, Lauren; Arriaga, Rosa I.

    2015-01-01

    Adolescents with type 1 diabetes typically receive clinical care every 3 months. Between visits, diabetes-related issues may not be frequently reflected, learned, and documented by the patients, limiting their self-awareness and knowledge about their condition. We designed a text-messaging system to help resolve this problem. In a pilot, randomized controlled trial with 30 adolescents, we examined the effect of text messages about symptom awareness and diabetes knowledge on glucose control and quality of life. The intervention group that received more text messages between visits had significant improvements in quality of life. PMID:25720675

  18. Text messaging approach improves weight loss in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: A randomized study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Axley, Page; Kodali, Sudha; Kuo, Yong-Fang; Ravi, Sujan; Seay, Toni; Parikh, Nina M; Singal, Ashwani K

    2018-05-01

    Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is emerging as the most common liver disease. The only effective treatment is 7%-10% weight loss. Mobile technology is increasingly used in weight management. This study was performed to evaluate the effects of text messaging intervention on weight loss in patients with NAFLD. Thirty well-defined NAFLD patients (mean age 52 years, 67% females, mean BMI 38) were randomized 1:1 to control group: counselling on healthy diet and exercise, or intervention group: text messages in addition to healthy life style counselling. NAFLD text messaging program sent weekly messages for 22 weeks on healthy life style education. Primary outcome was change in weight. Secondary outcomes were changes in liver enzymes and lipid profile. Intervention group lost an average of 6.9 lbs. (P = .03) compared to gain of 1.8 lbs. in the control group (P = .45). Intervention group also showed a decrease in ALT level (-12.5 IU/L, P = .035) and improvement in serum triglycerides (-28 mg/dL, P = .048). There were no changes in the control group on serum ALT level (-6.1 IU/L, P = .46) and on serum triglycerides (-20.3 mg/dL P = .27). Using one-way analysis of variance, change in outcomes in intervention group compared to control group was significant for weight (P = .02) and BMI (P = .02). Text messaging on healthy life style is associated with reduction in weight in NAFLD patients. Larger studies are suggested to examine benefits on liver histology, and assess long-term impact of this approach in patients with NAFLD. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  19. Assessing the National Cancer Institute's SmokefreeMOM Text-Messaging Program for Pregnant Smokers: Pilot Randomized Trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abroms, Lorien C; Chiang, Shawn; Macherelli, Laura; Leavitt, Leah; Montgomery, Margaret

    2017-10-03

    Automated text messages on mobile phones have been found to be effective for smoking cessation in adult smokers. This study aims to test the acceptability and feasibility of SmokefreeMOM, a national smoking cessation text-messaging program for pregnant smokers. Participants were recruited from prenatal care and randomized to receive SmokefreeMOM (n=55), an automated smoking cessation text-messaging program, or a control text message quitline referral (n=44). Participants were surveyed by phone at baseline and at 1 month and 3 months after enrollment. Results indicate that the SmokefreeMOM program was highly rated overall and rated more favorably than the control condition in its helpfulness at 3-month follow-up (Pmessaging at both 1-month and 3-month follow-ups (Pmessages, and few participants unsubscribed from the program. There were no significant differences between groups on the use of extra treatment resources or on smoking-related outcomes. However, at the 3-month follow-up, some outcomes favored the intervention group. SmokefreeMOM is acceptable for pregnant smokers. It is recommended that SmokefreeMOM be further refined and evaluated. Clinicaltrials.gov NCT02412956; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02412956 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6tcmeRnbC). ©Lorien C Abroms, Shawn Chiang, Laura Macherelli, Leah Leavitt, Margaret Montgomery. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (http://www.jmir.org), 03.10.2017.

  20. Development of a text messaging system to improve receipt of survivorship care in adolescent and young adult survivors of childhood cancer.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Casillas, Jacqueline; Goyal, Anju; Bryman, Jason; Alquaddoomi, Faisal; Ganz, Patricia A; Lidington, Emma; Macadangdang, Joshua; Estrin, Deborah

    2017-08-01

    This study aimed to develop and examine the acceptability, feasibility, and usability of a text messaging, or Short Message Service (SMS), system for improving the receipt of survivorship care for adolescent and young adult (AYA) survivors of childhood cancer. Researchers developed and refined the text messaging system based on qualitative data from AYA survivors in an iterative three-stage process. In stage 1, a focus group (n = 4) addressed acceptability; in stage 2, key informant interviews (n = 10) following a 6-week trial addressed feasibility; and in stage 3, key informant interviews (n = 23) following a 6-week trial addressed usability. Qualitative data were analyzed using a constant comparative analytic approach exploring in-depth themes. The final system includes programmed reminders to schedule and attend late effect screening appointments, tailored suggestions for community resources for cancer survivors, and messages prompting participant feedback regarding the appointments and resources. Participants found the text messaging system an acceptable form of communication, the screening reminders and feedback prompts feasible for improving the receipt of survivorship care, and the tailored suggestions for community resources usable for connecting survivors to relevant services. Participants suggested supplementing survivorship care visits and forming AYA survivor social networks as future implementations for the text messaging system. The text messaging system may assist AYA survivors by coordinating late effect screening appointments, facilitating a partnership with the survivorship care team, and connecting survivors with relevant community resources. The text messaging system has the potential to improve the receipt of survivorship care.

  1. Mobile text messaging solutions for obesity prevention

    Science.gov (United States)

    Akopian, David; Jayaram, Varun; Aaleswara, Lakshmipathi; Esfahanian, Moosa; Mojica, Cynthia; Parra-Medina, Deborah; Kaghyan, Sahak

    2011-02-01

    Cellular telephony has become a bright example of co-evolution of human society and information technology. This trend has also been reflected in health care and health promotion projects which included cell phones in data collection and communication chain. While many successful projects have been realized, the review of phone-based data collection techniques reveals that the existing technologies do not completely address health promotion research needs. The paper presents approaches which close this gap by extending existing versatile platforms. The messaging systems are designed for a health-promotion research to prevent obesity and obesity-related health disparities among low-income Latino adolescent girls. Messaging and polling mechanisms are used to communicate and automatically process response data for the target constituency. Preliminary survey data provide an insight on phone availability and technology perception for the study group.

  2. Off the Radar and Ubiquitous: Text Messaging and Its Relationship to "Drama" and Cyberbullying in an Affluent, Academically Rigorous US High School

    Science.gov (United States)

    Allen, Kathleen P.

    2012-01-01

    This mixed methods study explores text messaging in a suburban US high school. Survey questions were answered by students (mean age 16.0; SD = 1.23) regarding the prevalence of bullying and victimization via text messaging. Students and staff members responded to a survey item regarding perceptions of hostile text messaging. Both students and…

  3. Mobile Learning: Integrating Text Messaging into a Community College Pre-Algebra Course

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bull, Prince; McCormick, Carlos

    2012-01-01

    This study investigated the use of text messaging as an educational tool in a pre-algebra course at a community college in the central region of North Carolina. The research was conducted in two pre-algebra classes with thirty-three students and one instructor. Data were gathered using qualitative and quantitative methods. A mixed method design…

  4. 76 FR 39240 - Federal Acquisition Regulation; Encouraging Contractor Policies To Ban Text Messaging While Driving

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-07-05

    ... Executive Order (E.O.) 13513, dated October 1, 2009, entitled ``Federal Leadership on Reducing Text..., entitled ``Federal Leadership on Reducing Text Messaging while Driving.'' The rule requires Government... modified to include the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) definitions of electronic...

  5. "Txtn Is Ez F U No H2 Rd": The Relation between Reading Ability and Text-Messaging Behaviour

    Science.gov (United States)

    Coe, J. E. L.; Oakhill, J. V.

    2011-01-01

    A study was carried out to explore whether or not there is a relationship between children's reading ability and text-messaging behaviour. The aims of this study were to compare good and poor readers on their amount of usage of mobile phones, the frequency and type of text devices they used, and the speed at which they could read messages in…

  6. Sending and Receiving Text Messages with Sexual Content: Relations with Early Sexual Activity and Borderline Personality Features in Late Adolescence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brinkley, Dawn Y; Ackerman, Robert A; Ehrenreich, Samuel E; Underwood, Marion K

    2017-05-01

    This research examined adolescents' written text messages with sexual content to investigate how sexting relates to sexual activity and borderline personality features. Participants (N = 181, 85 girls) completed a measure of borderline personality features prior to 10 th grade and were subsequently given smartphones configured to capture the content of their text messages. Four days of text messaging were micro-coded for content related to sex. Following 12 th grade, participants reported on their sexual activity and again completed a measure of borderline personality features. Results showed that engaging in sexting at age 16 was associated with reporting an early sexual debut, having sexual intercourse experience, having multiple sex partners, and engaging in drug use in combination with sexual activity two years later. Girls engaging in sex talk were more likely to have had sexual intercourse by age 18. Text messaging about hypothetical sex in grade 10 also predicted borderline personality features at age 18. These findings suggest that sending text messages with sexual content poses risks for adolescents. Programs to prevent risky sexual activity and to promote psychological health could be enhanced by teaching adolescents to use digital communication responsibly.

  7. Sending and Receiving Text Messages with Sexual Content: Relations with Early Sexual Activity and Borderline Personality Features in Late Adolescence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brinkley, Dawn Y.; Ackerman, Robert A.; Ehrenreich, Samuel E.; Underwood, Marion K.

    2017-01-01

    This research examined adolescents’ written text messages with sexual content to investigate how sexting relates to sexual activity and borderline personality features. Participants (N = 181, 85 girls) completed a measure of borderline personality features prior to 10th grade and were subsequently given smartphones configured to capture the content of their text messages. Four days of text messaging were micro-coded for content related to sex. Following 12th grade, participants reported on their sexual activity and again completed a measure of borderline personality features. Results showed that engaging in sexting at age 16 was associated with reporting an early sexual debut, having sexual intercourse experience, having multiple sex partners, and engaging in drug use in combination with sexual activity two years later. Girls engaging in sex talk were more likely to have had sexual intercourse by age 18. Text messaging about hypothetical sex in grade 10 also predicted borderline personality features at age 18. These findings suggest that sending text messages with sexual content poses risks for adolescents. Programs to prevent risky sexual activity and to promote psychological health could be enhanced by teaching adolescents to use digital communication responsibly. PMID:28824224

  8. 75 FR 60264 - Federal Acquisition Regulation; Encouraging Contractor Policies To Ban Text Messaging While Driving

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-09-29

    ... other outreach to employees about the safety risks associated with texting while driving. (d... Driving AGENCIES: Department of Defense (DoD), General Services Administration (GSA), and National... 13513, issued on October 1, 2009, entitled ``Federal Leadership on Reducing Text Messaging while Driving...

  9. Text Messaging: An Intervention to Increase Physical Activity among African American Participants in a Faith-Based, Competitive Weight Loss Program

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pamela McCoy

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available African American adults are less likely to meet the recommended physical activity guidelines for aerobic and muscle-strengthening activity than Caucasian adults. The purpose of this study was to assess whether a text message intervention would increase physical activity in this population. This pilot study used a pre-/post-questionnaire non-randomized design. Participants in a faith-based weight loss competition who agreed to participate in the text messaging were assigned to the intervention group (n = 52. Participants who declined to participate in the intervention, but agreed to participate in the study, were assigned to the control group (n = 30. The text messages provided strategies for increasing physical activity and were based on constructs of the Health Belief Model and the Information-Motivation-Behavioral Skills Model. Chi square tests determined the intervention group participants increased exercise time by approximately eight percent (p = 0.03, while the control group’s exercise time remained constant. The intervention group increased walking and running. The control group increased running. Most participants indicated that the health text messages were effective. The results of this pilot study suggest that text messaging may be an effective method for providing options for motivating individuals to increase physical activity.

  10. Women's and Midwives' Perspectives on the Design of a Text Messaging Support for Maternal Obesity Services: An Exploratory Study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    H. Soltani

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available This study was aimed to explore women’s and midwives’ views on the use of mobile technology in supporting obese pregnant women with healthy lifestyle choices. A purposive sample of 14 women and midwives participated in four focus groups in Doncaster, UK. A content analysis of the transcripts from the first focus group led to the emergence of three main constructs with associated subcategories including Benefits (“modernising,” “motivating,” “reminding,” and “reducing” the sense of isolation, Risks and Limitations (possibility of “being offensive,” “creating pressure or guilt,” and “being influenced by mood”, and Service Delivery (making it “available to all pregnant women,” giving attention to the “message tone” and development of “message content”. They also suggested the use of other modalities such as web-based services for weight management during pregnancy. Based on the above results a text messaging service was developed and presented to the 2nd focus group participants who confirmed the positive views from the first focus group on the use of the text messaging as being supportive and informative. The participants also welcomed “women’s engagement and choice” in deciding the content, timing and frequency of messages. The results informed the development of a text messaging service to support maternal obesity management. The implementation and acceptability of this service requires further investigation.

  11. Technology-Enhanced Maintenance of Treatment Gains in Eating Disorders: Efficacy of an Intervention Delivered via Text Messaging

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bauer, Stephanie; Okon, Eberhard; Meermann, Rolf; Kordy, Hans

    2012-01-01

    Objective: Given the lack of maintenance interventions for eating disorders, a program delivered via the short message service (SMS) and text messaging was developed to support patients after their discharge from inpatient treatment. Method: The efficacy of the intervention was studied in a randomized controlled trial. Additionally, its impact on…

  12. Text messages improve pain management post-discharge from the paediatric emergency department

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    J. Boyd*

    2013-12-01

    Conclusion: This study demonstrates that sending text message reminders post-discharge significantly increases the number of analgesia doses administered, reduces the frequency of patients reporting pain and is an effective method of communicating with parents. With increasing accessibility of mobile phones worldwide this is a viable, cost-effective and reproducible method of optimising analgesia post-discharge from the Paediatric ED.

  13. A novel text message-based motivational interviewing intervention for college students who smoke cigarettes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anna Jorayeva

    2017-11-01

    This study adds to the knowledge on smoking behavior among college students. Preliminary evidence indicates that text message-based motivational interviewing and smoking cessation self-efficacy may help guide successful smoking behavior interventions for college students.

  14. Using daily text messages to improve adherence to infant micronutrient powder (MNP) packets in rural western China: A cluster-randomized controlled trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Xu; Luo, Renfu; Liu, Chengfang; Zhang, Linxiu; Yue, Ai; Medina, Alexis; Rozelle, Scott

    2018-01-01

    To evaluate the effectiveness of daily text messages as a means to improve caregivers' adherence to infant micronutrient powder (MNP) in rural Shaanxi Province of China. 638 infants aged 6-11 months in 234 villages were involved in a cluster-randomized controlled trial (RCT). All caregivers were given free infant MNP packets at baseline in April 2013 and the follow-up survey was in July 2013. We randomly assigned 318 infants in 117 villages to treatment group (receiving daily text message) and 320 infants in the other 117 villages as control group. On average, daily text messages increased the number of MNP packets fed (marginal effect = 4.63; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.16, 9.10). The text message is more likely to increase the consumption of MNP packets if the primary caregiver was the mother (marginal effect = 12.19; 95% CI = 0.69, 23.68). Receiving the text message appears to significantly increase the likelihood of full adherence when the primary caregiver can either check (odds ratio = 2.93; 95% CI = 1.34, 6.40) or knows how to send (odds ratio = 3.26; 95% CI = 1.53, 6.97) text messages. Daily text messages improved the consumption of infant MNP packets. However, the impact was not large enough to increase the probability of caregivers being fully adherent to the feeding instruction, which is to feed 5-7 packets per week as recommended. In addition, when the mother is the caregiver and when the caregiver can check or knows how to send text messages there is greater adherence by the primary caregivers. http://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN44149146.

  15. Using daily text messages to improve adherence to infant micronutrient powder (MNP) packets in rural western China: A cluster-randomized controlled trial

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Xu; Liu, Chengfang; Zhang, Linxiu; Yue, Ai; Medina, Alexis; Rozelle, Scott

    2018-01-01

    Objective To evaluate the effectiveness of daily text messages as a means to improve caregivers’ adherence to infant micronutrient powder (MNP) in rural Shaanxi Province of China. Methodology 638 infants aged 6–11 months in 234 villages were involved in a cluster-randomized controlled trial (RCT). All caregivers were given free infant MNP packets at baseline in April 2013 and the follow-up survey was in July 2013. We randomly assigned 318 infants in 117 villages to treatment group (receiving daily text message) and 320 infants in the other 117 villages as control group. Results On average, daily text messages increased the number of MNP packets fed (marginal effect = 4.63; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.16, 9.10). The text message is more likely to increase the consumption of MNP packets if the primary caregiver was the mother (marginal effect = 12.19; 95% CI = 0.69, 23.68). Receiving the text message appears to significantly increase the likelihood of full adherence when the primary caregiver can either check (odds ratio = 2.93; 95% CI = 1.34, 6.40) or knows how to send (odds ratio = 3.26; 95% CI = 1.53, 6.97) text messages. Conclusion Daily text messages improved the consumption of infant MNP packets. However, the impact was not large enough to increase the probability of caregivers being fully adherent to the feeding instruction, which is to feed 5–7 packets per week as recommended. In addition, when the mother is the caregiver and when the caregiver can check or knows how to send text messages there is greater adherence by the primary caregivers. Trial registration http://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN44149146 PMID:29352304

  16. Can text messages reach the parts other process measures cannot reach: an evaluation of a behavior change intervention delivered by mobile phone?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Linda Irvine

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Process evaluation is essential in developing, piloting and evaluating complex interventions. This often involves observation of intervention delivery and interviews with study participants. Mobile telephone interventions involve no face to face contact, making conventional process evaluation difficult. This study assesses the utility of novel techniques for process evaluation involving no face to face contact. METHODS: Text messages were delivered to 34 disadvantaged men as part of a feasibility study of a brief alcohol intervention. Process evaluation focused on delivery of the text messages and responses received from study participants. The computerized delivery system captured data on receipt of the messages. The text messages, delivered over 28 days, included nine which asked questions. Responses to these questions served as one technique for process evaluation by ascertaining the nature of engagement with the study and with steps on the causal chain to behavior change. RESULTS: A total of 646 SMS text messages were sent to participants. Of these, 613 messages (95% were recorded as delivered to participants' telephones. 88% of participants responded to messages that asked questions. There was little attenuation in responses to the questions across the intervention period. Content analysis of the responses revealed that participants engaged with text messages, thought deeply about their content and provided carefully considered personal responses to the questions. CONCLUSIONS: Socially disadvantaged men, a hard to reach population, engaged in a meaningful way over a sustained period with an interactive intervention delivered by text message. The novel process measures used in the study are unobtrusive, low cost and collect real-time data on all participants. They assessed the fidelity of delivery of the intervention and monitored retention in the study. They measured levels of engagement and identified participants' reactions to

  17. Mobile Message Services Using Text, Audio or Video for Improving the Learning Infrastructure in Higher Education

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Björn Olof Hedin

    2006-06-01

    Full Text Available This study examines how media files sent to mobile phones can be used to improve education at universities, and describes a prototype implement of such a system using standard components. To accomplish this, university students were equipped with mobile phones and software that allowed teachers to send text-based, audio-based and video-based messages to the students. Data was collected using questionnaires, focus groups and log files. The conclusions were that students preferred to have information and learning content sent as text, rather than audio or video. Text messages sent to phones should be no longer than 2000 characters. The most appreciated services were notifications of changes in course schedules, short lecture introductions and reminders. The prototype showed that this functionality is easy to implement using standard components.

  18. Short Text Messages (SMS) as an Additional Tool for Notifying Medical Staff in Case of a Hospital Mass Casualty Incident.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Timler, Dariusz; Bogusiak, Katarzyna; Kasielska-Trojan, Anna; Neskoromna-Jędrzejczak, Aneta; Gałązkowski, Robert; Szarpak, Łukasz

    2016-02-01

    The aim of the study was to verify the effectiveness of short text messages (short message service, or SMS) as an additional notification tool in case of fire or a mass casualty incident in a hospital. A total of 2242 SMS text messages were sent to 59 hospital workers divided into 3 groups (n=21, n=19, n=19). Messages were sent from a Samsung GT-S8500 Wave cell phone and Orange Poland was chosen as the telecommunication provider. During a 3-month trial period, messages were sent between 3:35 PM and midnight with no regular pattern. Employees were asked to respond by telling how much time it would take them to reach the hospital in case of a mass casualty incident. The mean reaction time (SMS reply) was 36.41 minutes. The mean declared time of arrival to the hospital was 100.5 minutes. After excluding 10% of extreme values for declared arrival time, the mean arrival time was estimated as 38.35 minutes. Short text messages (SMS) can be considered an additional tool for notifying medical staff in case of a mass casualty incident.

  19. General practice ethics: text messages and boundaries in the GP-patient relationship.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mintzker, Yishai; Rogers, Wendy

    2015-08-01

    Virtual forms of communication (eg texting) can support patients and may contribute to better care. However, these informal communication methods may intrude on the doctor’s leisure time and undermine standards of care if they replace face-to-face consultations.Texting may cross boundaries in potentially unprofessional ways, especially when particular patients are favoured with this privilege. It may disadvantage patients who are not favoured or who are not comfortable using mobile technology. We also note that GPs cannot control the distribution of their number or recall it without the inconvenience of changing the number once it has been disclosed.Virtual communication is an integral part of the way we live, despite the potential pitfalls. Each form (social media, electronic messaging systems, video consultations, mobile phones, etc) has its advantages and disadvantages. This makes it important for practices to develop policies supporting the responsible use of virtual communication. Such policies should:clarify (for patients and GPs) when its use is appropriate accommodate doctors’ individual preferences regarding technology provide guidance regarding GPs’ duties, especially for interactions that do not allow full evaluation of patients.GPs may wish to have specific criteria for providing patients with this degree of access, set very clear indications and contraindications to its use, explain the potential pitfalls, and ensure that text messages augment good care rather than replace it.

  20. Considerations in using text messages to improve adherence to highly active antiretroviral therapy: a qualitative study among clients in Yaoundé, Cameroon

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mbuagbaw L

    2012-04-01

    Full Text Available Lawrence Mbuagbaw1,2, Renée Cécile Bonono-Momnougui1, Lehana Thabane2,31Centre for the Development of Best Practices in Health (CDBPH, Yaoundé Central Hospital, Yaoundé, Cameroon; 2Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada; 3Biostatistics Unit, Father Sean O'Sullivan Research Centre, St Joseph's Healthcare, Hamilton, Ontario, CanadaAbstract: Poor adherence to highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART is a major hindrance to the reduction of mortality and morbidity due to HIV. This qualitative study used focus groups to explore the views and experiences of HIV patients on HAART with adherence reminders, especially the text message (SMS [short message service]. The ethnographic data obtained were used to design a clinical trial to assess the effect of motivational text messages versus usual care to enhance adherence to HAART among HIV patients in Yaoundé, Cameroon. Participants appreciated the idea of a timely SMS reminder, and cited the physician as a role model. They expressed concerns about privacy. Long-term life goals were a motivating factor to adhere. Overall, text messaging was viewed positively as a tool with a dual function of reminder and motivator. Messages coming from the attending physician may have a stronger impact. Trials investigating the use of text messages to improve adherence to HAART need to consider the content and timing of SMS, taking into account technical challenges and privacy.Keywords: focus groups, adherence, highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART, text message, short message service (SMS, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV

  1. Applications of text messaging, and bibliotherapy for treatment of patients affected by depressive symptoms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Roya Taleban

    2016-01-01

    Conclusions: It seems that bibliotherapy could efficiently decrease the intensity of depressive symptoms. Nevertheless, in comparison with our booklet trial, the text messaging group achieved neither durable nor significant success; thus, bibliotherapy could be utilized as a complementary methodology aiming depression treatment.

  2. Improved hydroxyurea effect with the use of text messaging in children with sickle cell anemia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Estepp, Jeremie H; Winter, Bryan; Johnson, Margery; Smeltzer, Matthew P; Howard, Scott C; Hankins, Jane S

    2014-11-01

    In children with sickle cell anemia (SCA), hydroxyurea reduces morbidity, but adherence is frequently suboptimal. Because most families of children with SCA have access to cellular telephone services, we assessed the impact of text messaged reminders as a tool to improve adherence to hydroxyurea. All patients hydroxyurea at a maximal tolerated dosage (MTD) at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital Comprehensive Pediatric Sickle Cell Program and who received automated text message reminders (SIMON®) were retrospectively identified. Laboratory parameters, hospitalizations, and medication possession ratios (MPR) prior to and after initiation of SIMON® were compared to assess the impact of SIMON®. Of the 97.3% of families with access to a cell phone, 91% elected to receive text message reminders. Among 55 children receiving hydroxyurea at MTD, laboratory parameters reflected waning medication compliance during the 12 months prior to SIMON®. Following initiation of SIMON®, children had higher mean corpuscular volumes, hemoglobin levels and fetal hemoglobin percentages and lower absolute reticulocyte counts and bilirubin levels, suggesting improved medication adherence. Hospitalizations were uncommon before and after SIMON®, and medication possession ratios (MPRs) were high before and after SIMON®, neither was significantly changed. SIMON® was feasible and improved hematologic parameters in children with SCA receiving hydroxyurea at a MTD. Future work will include extension of this technology to children with other chronic medical conditions who require daily use of medication. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  3. Text Messaging for Enhancement of Testing and Treatment for Tuberculosis, Human Immunodeficiency Virus, and Syphilis: A Survey of Attitudes Toward Cellular Phones and Healthcare

    Science.gov (United States)

    Person, Anna K.; Blain, Michela L.M.; Jiang, Helen; Rasmussen, Petra W.

    2011-01-01

    Abstract Objectives: The objective of this study was to assess knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors surrounding healthcare-related mobile phone use and text messaging among persons at risk for or infected with tuberculosis (TB) or the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Methods: An anonymous survey was conducted in three groups of subjects: (1) HIV-infected persons attending an HIV clinic; (2) persons with latent TB infection at a public health clinic; and (3) persons presenting for TB, HIV, and syphilis screening at a community screening site. Results: Three hundred fifteen (n  = 315) persons responded to the survey, of whom 241 (76.5%) owned a cell phone. Cell phone owners were younger and more educated than nonowners. Transportation difficulty and forgetting appointments were cited as significant barriers by 34.2% and 39.5% of respondents, respectively. Fifty-six percent of subjects felt it would be acceptable to receive text message appointment reminders, and 33% felt that text message reminders to take medications would be acceptable. Younger age and cell phone ownership were significantly associated with acceptance of text message reminders. Black and Hispanic subjects were more likely to feel that text message reminders for appointments or medications were helpful than White subjects. Further, Black and Hispanic subjects, as well as subjects with lower educational attainment, were more receptive to healthcare-related educational text messages. Conclusions: Cell phones and text messaging were prevalent among our subjects attending HIV and TB clinics, and subjects were generally receptive to text messaging for healthcare-related communication. Interventions that explore the potential for text messaging to improve clinic attendance, medication adherence, and health knowledge should be explored. PMID:21457085

  4. Text-Messaging-Enhanced HIV Intervention for African American Adolescents: A Feasibility Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cornelius, Judith B.; Dmochowski, Jacek; Boyer, Cherrie; St Lawrence, Janet; Lightfoot, Marguerita; Moore, Michael

    2013-01-01

    We examined the feasibility and acceptability of an HIV prevention intervention for African American adolescents delivered via mobile cell phones and looked at intervention-related changes in beliefs and sexual behaviors. We used a longitudinal one-group comparison design with data collected at three points. Forty adolescents, 13–18 years old, participated in the Becoming a Responsible Teen intervention followed by the delivery of daily multimedia messages for 3 months. The mobile-cell-phone enhanced intervention was feasible and acceptable to the participants. Greater HIV knowledge, improved attitudes toward condoms, and increased perceived HIV risk scores were observed with older adolescents (16–18 years old). Behavior trends showed a decrease in the number of times participants reported engaging in unprotected sexual intercourse over the previous 2 months. Mobile-cell-phone multimedia-text-messaging boosters tested in this study provided preliminary evidence of efficacy of the enhanced HIV prevention intervention for African American youth. PMID:23122907

  5. SIAM (Suicide intervention assisted by messages): the development of a post-acute crisis text messaging outreach for suicide prevention.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berrouiguet, Sofian; Alavi, Zarrin; Vaiva, Guillaume; Courtet, Philippe; Baca-García, Enrique; Vidailhet, Pierre; Gravey, Michel; Guillodo, Elise; Brandt, Sara; Walter, Michel

    2014-11-18

    Suicidal behaviour and deliberate self-harm are common among adults. Research indicates that maintaining contact either via letter or postcard with at-risk adults following discharge from care services can reduce reattempt risk. Feasibility trials demonstrated that intervention through text message was also effective in preventing suicide repetition amongst suicide attempters. The aim of the current study is to investigate the effect of text message intervention versus traditional treatment on reducing the risk of suicide attempt repetition among adults after self-harm. The study will be a 2-year multicentric randomized controlled trial conducted by the Brest University Hospital, France. Participants will be adults discharged after self-harm, from emergency services or after a short hospitalization. Participants will be recruited over a 12-month period. The intervention is comprised of an SMS that will be sent at h48, D7, D15 and monthly. The text message enquires about the patients' well-being and includes information regarding individual sources of help and evidence-based self help strategies. Participants will be assessed at the baseline, month 6 and 13. As primary endpoint, we will assess the number of patients who reattempt suicide in each group at 6 months. As secondary endpoints, we will assess the number of patients who reattempt suicide at 13 month, the number of suicide attempts in the intervention and control groups at 6 and 13 month, the number of death by suicide in the intervention and control groups at month 6 and 13. In both groups, suicidal ideations, will be assessed at the baseline, month 6 and 13. Medical costs and satisfaction will be assessed at month 13. This paper describes the design and deployment of a trial SIAM; an easily reproducible intervention that aims to reduce suicide risk in adults after self-harm. It utilizes several characteristics of interventions that have shown a significant reduction in the number of suicide reattempts. We

  6. How do text-messaging smoking cessation interventions confer benefit? A multiple mediation analysis of Text2Quit.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hoeppner, Bettina B; Hoeppner, Susanne S; Abroms, Lorien C

    2017-04-01

    To determine the degree to which the observed benefit of Text2Quit was accounted for by psychosocial mechanisms derived from its quit smoking messaging versus from the use of extra-programmatic smoking cessation treatments and services. Prospective, multiple mediation model of a randomized controlled trial (RCT). United States nation-wide. A total of 409 adult daily smokers participated. Participants were, on average, 35 years of age, predominantly female (68%), white (79%), lacked a college degree (70%), had medium nicotine dependence (average Fagerström Nicotine Dependence Score score of 5.2) and more than half (62%) had made a previous quit attempt. Adult daily smokers browsing the web for smoking cessation support (n = 409; recruited 19 May2011-10 July 2012) were randomized to receive smoking cessation support via Text2Quit versus a smoking cessation material. Mediators (i.e. changes in psychosocial constructs of health behavior change, use of extra-programmatic treatment) were assessed at 1 month using single-item measures and outcome (i.e. self-reported 7-day point prevalence abstinence) at 6-month follow-up. Mediators accounted for 35% of the effect of Text2Quit on smoking cessation. Only psychosocial mechanisms had complete mediational paths, with increases in self-efficacy [b = 0.10 (0.06-0.15)], quitting know-how [b = 0.07 (0.03-0.11)] and the sense that someone cared [b = 0.06 (0.01-0.11)], partially explaining the conferred benefit of Text2Quit. Use of outside resources, including treatments promoted explicitly by Text2Quit, i.e. medication [b = 0.001 (-0.01 to 0.01), quitline [b = -0.002 (-0.01 to 0.04)], treatments and resources not promoted by Text2Quit, i.e. online forums [b = 0.01 (-0.01 to 0.04)] and self-help materials [b = -0.01 (-0.04 to 0.02)], did not have complete mediational paths. An interaction effect existed for medication use that suggested that for participants not using medication, Text2Quit conferred substantial

  7. The Effectiveness of Mobile Phone Text Messaging in Improving Medication Adherence for Patients with Chronic Diseases: A Systematic Review

    OpenAIRE

    Ershad Sarabi, Roghayeh; Sadoughi, Farahnaz; Jamshidi Orak, Roohangiz; Bahaadinbeigy, Kambiz

    2016-01-01

    Context Medication non-adherence is a commonly observed problem in the self-administration of treatment, regardless of the disease type. Text messaging reminders, as electronic reminders, provide an opportunity to improve medication adherence. In this study, we aimed to provide evidence addressing the question of whether text message reminders were effective in improving patients? adherence to medication. Evidence Acquisition We carried out a systematic literature search, using the five elect...

  8. The Only Safe SMS Texting Is No SMS Texting.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Toth, Cheryl; Sacopulos, Michael J

    2015-01-01

    Many physicians and practice staff use short messaging service (SMS) text messaging to communicate with patients. But SMS text messaging is unencrypted, insecure, and does not meet HIPAA requirements. In addition, the short and abbreviated nature of text messages creates opportunities for misinterpretation, and can negatively impact patient safety and care. Until recently, asking patients to sign a statement that they understand and accept these risks--as well as having policies, device encryption, and cyber insurance in place--would have been enough to mitigate the risk of using SMS text in a medical practice. But new trends and policies have made SMS text messaging unsafe under any circumstance. This article explains these trends and policies, as well as why only secure texting or secure messaging should be used for physician-patient communication.

  9. The use of English in Dutch text messages as a function of communicative constraints

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Lettinga, Aafke; van Wijk, Carel; Broeder, Peter

    2017-01-01

    The influence of English on other languages such as Dutch is still growing. But how does this influence show up in actual day to day verbal behavior? A promising domain to study this issue is texting by young adults. How often and in what ways do they use English in their digital messages? Are there

  10. User satisfaction with the structure and content of the NEXit intervention, a text messaging-based smoking cessation programme

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ulrika Müssener

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Smoking is still the leading cause of preventable ill health and death. There is a limited amount of evidence for effective smoking cessation interventions among young people. To address this, a text messaging-based smoking cessation programme, the NEXit intervention, was developed. Short-term effectiveness, measured immediately after the 12-week intervention revealed that 26% of smokers in the intervention group had prolonged abstinence compared with 15% in the control group. The present study was performed to explore the users’ experiences of the structure and content of the intervention in order to further develop the intervention. Methods Students participating in the main NEXit randomized controlled trial were invited to grade their experiences of the structure and content of the intervention after having completed follow-up. The participants received an e-mail with an electronic link to a short questionnaire. Descriptive analysis of the distribution of the responses to the questionnaire was performed. Free-text comments to 14 questions were analysed. Results The response rate for the user feedback questionnaire was 35% (n = 289/827 and 428 free-text comments were collected. The first motivational phase of the intervention was appreciated by 55% (158/289 of the participants. Most participants wanted to quit smoking immediately and only 124/289 (43% agreed to have to decide a quit-date in the future. Most participants 199/289 (69% found the content of the messages in the core programme to be very good or good, and the variability between content types was appreciated by 78% (224/289. Only 34% (97/289 of the participants thought that all or nearly all messages were valuable, and some mentioned that it was not really the content that mattered, but that the messages served as a reminder about the decision to quit smoking. Conclusions The programme was largely perceived satisfactory in most aspects concerning structure

  11. My Quest, an Intervention Using Text Messaging to Improve Dietary and Physical Activity Behaviors and Promote Weight Loss in Low-Income Women.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Griffin, Jamie B; Struempler, Barb; Funderburk, Katie; Parmer, Sondra M; Tran, Cecilia; Wadsworth, Danielle D

    2018-01-01

    To evaluate changes in dietary and physical activity behaviors and weight after implementation of a 12-week text messaging initiative (My Quest). The researchers conducted a 1-group, pre- to posttest study design to determine changes after implementation of a text messaging initiative developed using the tenets of the Social Cognitive Theory. A total of 55 Alabama counties (84% rural) with high rates of poverty, overweight/obesity, and chronic diseases. Convenience sample of low-income, primarily overweight/obese women (n = 104). Short texts (n = 2-3/d) provided health tips, reminders, and goal-setting prompts. Weekly electronic newsletters provided tips and recipes. Participant self-monitored body weight weekly. Outcomes included goal setting, self-efficacy, behavioral and environmental factors, self-monitoring, and body weight; data collection occurred through text message response and online surveys. Analyses were conducted using McNemar test (dichotomous data), Wilcoxon signed rank test (ordinal data), or paired t test (continuous data). Participants significantly (P text messaging initiative particularly targeting women residing in rural communities with high rates of poverty and obesity can promote weight loss and improve dietary and physical activity behaviors. Future studies may include a control group and social support component such as group text messaging. Copyright © 2017 Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  12. Learning beyond the Classroom: Using Text Messages to Measure General Chemistry Students' Study Habits

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ye, Li; Oueini, Razanne; Dickerson, Austin P.; Lewis, Scott E.

    2015-01-01

    This study used a series of text message inquiries sent to General Chemistry students asking: "Have you studied for General Chemistry I in the past 48 hours? If so, how did you study?" This method for collecting data is novel to chemistry education research so the first research goals were to investigate the feasibility of the technique…

  13. Adolescents just do not know what they want: a qualitative study to describe obese adolescents' experiences of text messaging to support behavior change maintenance post intervention.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, Kyla L; Kerr, Deborah A; Fenner, Ashley A; Straker, Leon M

    2014-04-08

    Adolescents are considered a hard to reach group and novel approaches are needed to encourage good health. Text messaging interventions have been reported as acceptable to adolescents but there is little evidence regarding the use of text messages with overweight and obese adolescents to support engagement or behavior change after the conclusion of a healthy lifestyle program. The intent of this study was to explore the opinions of overweight adolescents and their parents regarding the use of text messages as a support during the maintenance period following an intervention. This paper reports on the findings from focus groups conducted with adolescents (n=12) and parents (n=13) who had completed an eight-week intensive intervention known as Curtin University's Activity, Food and Attitudes Program (CAFAP). Focus groups were conducted three months post intensive intervention. Participants were asked about their experiences of the prior three-month maintenance phase during which adolescents had received tri-weekly text messages based on the self-determination theory and goal-setting theory. Participants were asked about the style and content of text messages used as well as how they used the text messages. Data were analyzed using content and thematic analyses. Two clear themes emerged from the focus groups relating to (1) what adolescents liked or thought they wanted in a text message to support behavior change, and (2) how they experienced or responded to text messages. Within the "like/want" theme, there were five sub-themes relating to the overall tone of the text, frequency, timing, reference to long-term goals, and inclusion of practical tips. Within the "response to text" theme, there were four sub-themes describing a lack of motivation, barriers to change, feelings of shame, and perceived unfavorable comparison with other adolescents. What adolescents said they wanted in text messages often conflicted with their actual experiences. Parent reports provided a

  14. Project TwEATs: a feasibility study testing the use of automated text messaging to monitor appetite ratings in a free-living population

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schembre, Susan M.; Yuen, Jessica

    2011-01-01

    There are no standardized methods for monitoring appetite in free-living populations. Fifteen participants tested a computer-automated text-messaging system designed to track hunger ratings over seven days. Participants were sent text-messages (SMS) hourly and instructed to reply during waking hours with their current hunger rating. Of 168 SMS, 0.6-7.1% were undelivered, varying by mobile service provider, On average 12 SMS responses were received daily with minor variations by observation day or day of the week. Compliance was over 74% and 93% of the ratings were received within 30-minutes. Automated text-messaging is a feasible method to monitor appetite ratings in this population. PMID:21251941

  15. Supporting Head Start Parents: Impact of a Text Message Intervention on Parent-Child Activity Engagement

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hurwitz, Lisa B.; Lauricella, Alexis R.; Hanson, Ann; Raden, Anthony; Wartella, Ellen

    2015-01-01

    Head Start emphasises parent engagement as a critical strategy in promoting children's long-term learning. Parents can support children's positive development by engaging them in stimulating activities. The following study assessed whether a service that delivered parenting tips via text message could prompt parents of children enrolled in Head…

  16. mHealth Series: Measuring maternal newborn and child health coverage by text messaging – a county–level model for China

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Yanfeng; Chen, Li; van Velthoven, Michelle H. M. M. T.; Wang, Wei; Liu, Li; Du, Xiaozhen; Wu, Qiong; Li, Ye; Car, Josip

    2013-01-01

    Background Effective interventions in maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH), if achieving high level of population coverage, could prevent most of deaths in children under five years of age. High–quality measurements of MNCH coverage are essential for tracking progress and making evidence–based decisions. Methods MNCH coverage data are mainly collected through fieldworkers’ interview with preselected households in standard programs of Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) or Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) in most low– and middle–income countries. Household surveys will continue to be the major data source for MNCH coverage in the foreseeable future. However, face–to–face data collection broadly used in household surveys is labor–intensive, time–consuming and expensive. Mobile phones are drawing more and more interest in medical research with the rapid increase in usage and text messaging could be an innovative way of data collection, that is, we could collect DHS data through mHealth method. We refer to it as “mDHS”. Finding We propose in this paper a conceptual model for measuring MNCH coverage by text messaging in China. In developing this model, we considered resource constraints, sample representativeness, sample size and survey bias. The components of the model are text messaging platform, routine health information system, health facilities, communities and households. Conclusions Measuring MNCH interventions coverage by text messaging could be advantageous in many ways and establish a much larger evidence–base for MNCH health policies in China. Before mDHS could indeed be launched, research priorities would include a systematic assessment of routine health information systems and exploring feasibility to collect name lists, mobile phone numbers and general demographic and socio–economic data; qualitative interviews with health workers and caregivers; assessment of data validity of all indicators to be collected by text

  17. Do I Know Its Wrong: Children's and Adults' Use of Unconventional Grammar in Text Messaging

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kemp, Nenagh; Wood, Clare; Waldron, Sam

    2014-01-01

    There is concern that the violations of conventional grammar (both accidental and deliberate) often seen in text messages (e.g., "hi [smiley face emoticon] how is ya?!!") could lead to difficulty in learning or remembering formal grammatical conventions. We examined whether the grammatical violations made by 244 British children,…

  18. mHealth Series: Text messaging data collection of infant and young child feeding practice in rural China – a feasibility study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Du, Xiaozhen; Wang, Wei; Helena van Velthoven, Michelle; Chen, Li; Scherpbier, Robert W.; Zhang, Yanfeng; Wu, Qiong; Li, Ye; Rao, Xiuqin; Car, Josip

    2013-01-01

    Background Face–to–face interviews by trained field workers are commonly used in household surveys. However, this data collection method is labor–intensive, time–consuming, expensive, prone to interviewer and recall bias and not easily scalable to increase sample representativeness. Objective To explore the feasibility of using text messaging to collect information on infant and young child feeding practice in rural China. Methods Our study was part of a clustered randomized controlled trial that recruited 591 mothers of children aged 12 to 29 months in rural China. We used the test–retest method: first we collected data through face–to–face interviews and then through text messages. We asked the same five questions on standard infant and young child feeding indicators for both methods and asked caregivers how they fed their children yesterday. We assessed the response rate of the text messaging method and compared data agreement of the two methods. Finding In the text messaging survey, the response rate for the first question and the completion rate were 56.5% and 48.7%, respectively. Data agreement between the two methods was excellent for whether the baby was breastfed yesterday (question 1) (kappa, κ = 0.81), moderate for the times of drinking infant formula, fresh milk or yoghurt yesterday (question 2) (intraclass correlation coefficient, ICC = 0.46) and whether iron fortified food or iron supplement was consumed (question 3) (κ = 0.44), and poor for 24–hour dietary recall (question 4) (ICC = 0.13) and times of eating solid and semi–solid food yesterday (question 5) (ICC = 0.06). There was no significant difference in data agreement between the two surveys at different time intervals. For infant and young child feeding indicators from both surveys, continued breastfeeding at 1 year (P = 1.000), continued breastfeeding at 2 years (P = 0.688) and minimum meal frequency (P = 0.056) were not significantly

  19. Interest of pregnant women in the use of SMS (short message service text messages for the improvement of perinatal and postnatal care

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cormick Gabriela

    2012-08-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Mobile health (mHealth is emerging as a useful tool to improve healthcare access especially in the developing world, where limited access to health services is linked to poor antenatal care, and maternal and perinatal mortality. The objective of this study is to 1 understand pregnant women’s access and usage of cell phones and 2 survey the health information needs and interests in a population attending public hospitals and health centers of two cities in Argentina. This information is not available and it is the basis to develop a strategy for improving maternal care via cell phones. Methods Questionnaires were verbally administered to pregnant women who were attending an antenatal care visit in community health centers and public hospitals in Rosario, Santa Fe and Mercedes, Corrientes. Participants were 18 years of age or older and had previously given birth. The data obtained was qualitative and analyzed using SPSS version 18. Results A total of 147 pregnant women meeting inclusion criteria (Rosario: 63; Mercedes: 84 were approached and verbally consented to participate. The average age was 29.5 years, most lived in urban areas (89% with a mean travel time of 43.4 minutes required to get to the health center and 57.3 minutes to get the hospital. Ninety-six percent of women (n = 140 responded that they would like to receive text messages and cell phone calls with information regarding prenatal care, although the topics and period of time to receive information varied greatly. Conclusions Considering the vast majority of the interviewed women had access to and were interested in receiving text messages and calls with educational information regarding pregnancy and infant health, pregnant women in Argentina could benefit from such an mHealth program. The low access to Internet suggests it is not an option for this population; however, this cannot be assumed as representative of the country’s situation. To retain

  20. Use of an android phone application for automated text messages in international settings: A case study in an HIV clinical trial in St. Petersburg, Russia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Forman, Leah S; Patts, Gregory J; Coleman, Sharon M; Blokhina, Elena; Lu, John; Yaroslavtseva, Tatiana; Gnatienko, Natalia; Krupitsky, Evgeny; Samet, Jeffrey H; Chaisson, Christine E

    2018-02-01

    Reproducible outcomes in clinical trials depend on adherence to study protocol. Short message service (also known as text message) reminders have been shown to improve clinical trial adherence in the United States and elsewhere. However, due to systematic differences in mobile data plans, languages, and technology, these systems are not easily translated to international settings. To gauge technical capabilities for international projects, we developed SMSMessenger, an automated Android application that uses a US server to send medication reminders to participants in a clinical trial in St. Petersburg, Russia (Zinc for HIV disease among alcohol users-a randomized controlled trial in the Russia Alcohol Research Collaboration on HIV/AIDS cohort). The application is downloaded once onto an Android study phone. When it is time for the text message reminders to be sent, study personnel access the application on a local phone, which in turn accesses the existing clinical trial database hosted on a US web server. The application retrieves a list of participants with the following information: phone number, whether a message should be received at that time, and the appropriate text of the message. The application is capable of storing multiple outgoing messages. With a few clicks, text messages are sent to study participants who can reply directly to the message. Study staff can check the local phone for incoming messages. The SMSMessenger application uses an existing clinical trial database and is able to receive real-time updates. All communications between the application and server are encrypted, and phone numbers are stored in a secure database behind a firewall. No sensitive data are stored on the phone, as outgoing messages are sent through the application and not by messaging features on the phone itself. Messages are sent simultaneously to study participants, which reduces the burden on local study staff. Costs and setup are minimal. The only local requirements

  1. Adolescents Just Do Not Know What They Want: A Qualitative Study to Describe Obese Adolescents’ Experiences of Text Messaging to Support Behavior Change Maintenance Post Intervention

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kerr, Deborah A; Fenner, Ashley A; Straker, Leon M

    2014-01-01

    Background Adolescents are considered a hard to reach group and novel approaches are needed to encourage good health. Text messaging interventions have been reported as acceptable to adolescents but there is little evidence regarding the use of text messages with overweight and obese adolescents to support engagement or behavior change after the conclusion of a healthy lifestyle program. Objective The intent of this study was to explore the opinions of overweight adolescents and their parents regarding the use of text messages as a support during the maintenance period following an intervention. Methods This paper reports on the findings from focus groups conducted with adolescents (n=12) and parents (n=13) who had completed an eight-week intensive intervention known as Curtin University’s Activity, Food and Attitudes Program (CAFAP). Focus groups were conducted three months post intensive intervention. Participants were asked about their experiences of the prior three-month maintenance phase during which adolescents had received tri-weekly text messages based on the self-determination theory and goal-setting theory. Participants were asked about the style and content of text messages used as well as how they used the text messages. Data were analyzed using content and thematic analyses. Results Two clear themes emerged from the focus groups relating to (1) what adolescents liked or thought they wanted in a text message to support behavior change, and (2) how they experienced or responded to text messages. Within the “like/want” theme, there were five sub-themes relating to the overall tone of the text, frequency, timing, reference to long-term goals, and inclusion of practical tips. Within the “response to text” theme, there were four sub-themes describing a lack of motivation, barriers to change, feelings of shame, and perceived unfavorable comparison with other adolescents. What adolescents said they wanted in text messages often conflicted with their

  2. The Effects of Tonsillectomy Education Using Smartphone Text Message for Mothers and Children Undergoing Tonsillectomy: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Ji Yeon; Lee, Hanna; Zhang, Yongai; Lee, Ji Uhn; Park, Jun Hee; Yun, Eun Kyoung

    2016-11-01

    Tonsillectomy is the most common type of surgical procedure performed in preschool children. Due to short period of hospitalization, mothers are expected to manage their children's care at home. However, they are rarely provided with sufficient information about postoperative management. This study aims to determine the effectiveness of providing caregivers with information on tonsillectomy care by smartphone text messaging in increasing their mothers' knowledge, reducing the anxiety, and improving the sick-role behavior of pediatric tonsillectomy patients. A sample of 61 pediatric patients and their mothers was recruited. Participants were randomly assigned into either the experimental group (n = 27) or the control group (n = 34). The control group was given information about the tonsillectomy by conventional textual and verbal means, whereas the experimental group received the same information in the form of 10 text messages during the period from hospitalization to their first follow-up visits. Results of mixed design, two-way analysis of variance indicated significant interaction effects between time points and groups for mothers' knowledge (F = 4.26, p = 0.043) and children's anxiety (F = 3.32; p = 0.037). Thus, the results do support the effectiveness of tonsillectomy education using smartphone text messaging in increasing mothers' knowledge and reducing children's anxiety. These results can be applied to preoperative and postoperative interventions for children not only for tonsillectomy but also for many other operations. The development of various educational programs using smartphone text messaging for postoperative patient management would also be valuable.

  3. The Effect of Feedback by SMS-text messages and email on Household Electricity Consumption: Experimental Evidence

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Larsen, Anders

    2010-01-01

    This paper analyzes the effect of supplying online feedback by SMS-text messages and email about electricity consumption on the level of total household electricity consumption. An experiment was conducted in which 1,452 households were randomly allocated to three experimental groups and two...

  4. Text messaging versus email for emergency medicine residents’ knowledge retention: a pilot comparison in the United States

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wirachin Hoonpongsimanont

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available We evaluated the effectiveness of text messaging versus email, as a delivery method to enhance knowledge retention of emergency medicine (EM content in EM residents. We performed a multi-centered, prospective, randomized study consisting of postgraduate year (PGY 1 to PGY 3 & 4 residents in three United States EM residency programs in 2014. Fifty eight residents were randomized into one delivery group: text message or email. Participants completed a 40 question pre- and post-intervention exam. Primary outcomes were the means of pre- and post-intervention exam score differences. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, paired t-test, and multiple linear regressions. No significant difference was found between the primary outcomes of the two groups (P=0.51. PGY 2 status had a significant negative effect (P=0.01 on predicted exam score difference. Neither delivery method enhanced resident knowledge retention. Further research on implementation of mobile technology in residency education is required.

  5. Baseline Motivation Type as a Predictor of Dropout in a Healthy Eating Text Messaging Program.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Coa, Kisha; Patrick, Heather

    2016-09-29

    Growing evidence suggests that text messaging programs are effective in facilitating health behavior change. However, high dropout rates limit the potential effectiveness of these programs. This paper describes patterns of early dropout in the HealthyYou text (HYTxt) program, with a focus on the impact of baseline motivation quality on dropout, as characterized by Self-Determination Theory (SDT). This analysis included 193 users of HYTxt, a diet and physical activity text messaging intervention developed by the US National Cancer Institute. Descriptive statistics were computed, and logistic regression models were run to examine the association between baseline motivation type and early program dropout. Overall, 43.0% (83/193) of users dropped out of the program; of these, 65.1% (54/83; 28.0% of all users) did so within the first 2 weeks. Users with higher autonomous motivation had significantly lower odds of dropping out within the first 2 weeks. A one unit increase in autonomous motivation was associated with lower odds (odds ratio 0.44, 95% CI 0.24-0.81) of early dropout, which persisted after adjusting for level of controlled motivation. Applying SDT-based strategies to enhance autonomous motivation might reduce early dropout rates, which can improve program exposure and effectiveness.

  6. Counselling young cannabis users by text message

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Laursen, Ditte

    2010-01-01

    This article presents the results of a study of two SMS services aimed at providing young people with information on cannabis and helping them to reduce their consumption of the drug. The attitude of the 12 participants in the study towards the SMS services is generally positive, but they prefer...... factual information to advice and counselling. The messages prompt reflection and awareness among the recipients, and their repetitive, serial nature plays a significant part in the process of change. This is especially true of the young people whose use of cannabis is recreational. For them, the SMS...

  7. Should We Be Afraid of Simple Messages? The Effects of Text Difficulty and Illustrations in People With Low or High Health Literacy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meppelink, Corine S; Smit, Edith G; Buurman, Bianca M; van Weert, Julia C M

    2015-01-01

    It is often recommended that health information should be simplified for people with low health literacy. However, little is known about whether messages adapted to low health literacy audiences are also effective for people with high health literacy, or whether simple messages are counterproductive in this group. Using a two (illustrated vs. text-only) by two (nondifficult vs. difficult text) between-subjects design, we test whether older adults with low (n = 279) versus high health literacy (n = 280) respond differently to colorectal cancer screening messages. Results showed that both health literacy groups recalled information best when the text was nondifficult. Reduced text difficulty did not lead to negative attitudes or less intention to have screening among people with high health literacy. Benefits of illustrations, in terms of improved recall and attitudes, were only found in people with low health literacy who were exposed to difficult texts. This was not found for people with high health literacy. In terms of informed decisions, nondifficult and illustrated messages resulted in the best informed decisions in the low health literacy group, whereas the high health literacy group benefited from nondifficult text in general, regardless of illustrations. Our findings imply that materials adapted to lower health literacy groups can also be used for a more general audience, as they do not deter people with high health literacy.

  8. Testing the effect of text messaging cues to promote physical activity habits: a worksite-based exploratory intervention.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fournier, M; d'Arripe-Longueville, F; Radel, R

    2017-10-01

    This study aims to test the efficacy of text messaging cues (SMS) to promote physical activity (PA) habit formation in the workplace. Employees (N = 49; 28 females and 21 males, Mage = 47.5 ± 8.29 years) were randomized into two parallel groups: a PA group enrolled in a 28-week supervised PA program and a PA+SMS group enrolled in the same PA program with text messaging cues received before their PA sessions. The exercise habit was assessed every week from self-reports on an online application. PA maintenance and several physical fitness measures were also assessed prior to and after the intervention to evaluate its general impact. Mixed model analysis of the 603 observations indicated a small but significant effect of the SMS cues on the speed at which participants engaged in PA behaviors, as the significant interaction effect revealed that the slope of the exercise habit over time was slightly steeper in the PA+SMS group (B = 0.0462, P = 0.0001) than in the PA group (B = 0.0216, P = 0.01). SMS delivery had a marginal effect on the maintenance of PA behaviors 1 year after the intervention. The results suggest that text messaging can help to form PA habits at the workplace and might facilitate long-term maintenance of PA behaviors. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  9. Adapting a Database of Text Messages to a Mobile-Based Weight Loss Program: The Case of the Middle East

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Selma Limam Mansar

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Obesity has become a worldwide epidemic. Qatar, a rapidly developing country in the Middle East, has seen a sharp increase in the prevalence of obesity. The increase can be attributed to several reasons, including sedentary lifestyles imposed by a harsh climate and the introduction of Western fast food. Mobile technologies have been used and studied as a technology to support individuals’ weight loss. The authors have developed a mobile application that implements three strategies drawn from proven theories of behavioral change. The application is localized to the cultural context of its proposed users. The objective of this paper is to present a method through which we adapted the messaging content of a weight loss application to the context of its users while retaining an effective degree of automation. The adaptation addressed body image, eating and physical exercise habits, and regional/cultural needs. The paper discusses how surveying potential users can be used to build a profile of a target population, find common patterns, and then develop a database of text messages. The text messages are automated and sent to the users at specific times of day, as suggested by the survey results.

  10. Designing Multimodal Mobile Interaction for a Text Messaging Application for Visually Impaired Users

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Carlos Duarte

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available While mobile devices have experienced important accessibility advances in the past years, people with visual impairments still face important barriers, especially in specific contexts when both their hands are not free to hold the mobile device, like when walking outside. By resorting to a multimodal combination of body based gestures and voice, we aim to achieve full hands and vision free interaction with mobile devices. In this article, we describe this vision and present the design of a prototype, inspired by that vision, of a text messaging application. The article also presents a user study where the suitability of the proposed approach was assessed, and a performance comparison between our prototype and existing SMS applications was conducted. Study participants received positively the prototype, which also supported better performance in tasks that involved text editing.

  11. High acceptability for cell phone text messages to improve communication of laboratory results with HIV-infected patients in rural Uganda: a cross-sectional survey study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Siedner Mark J

    2012-06-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Patient-provider communication is a major challenge in resource-limited settings with large catchment areas. Though mobile phone usership increased 20-fold in Africa over the past decade, little is known about acceptability of, perceptions about disclosure and confidentiality, and preferences for cell phone communication of health information in the region. Methods We performed structured interviews of fifty patients at the Immune Suppression Syndrome clinic in Mbarara, Uganda to assess four domains of health-related communication: a cell phone use practices and literacy, b preferences for laboratory results communication, c privacy and confidentiality, and d acceptability of and preferences for text messaging to notify patients of abnormal test results. Results Participants had a median of 38 years, were 56% female, and were residents of a large catchment area throughout southwestern Uganda. All participants expressed interest in a service to receive information about laboratory results by cell phone text message, stating benefits of increased awareness of their health and decreased transportation costs. Ninety percent reported that they would not be concerned for unintended disclosure. A minority additionally expressed concerns about difficulty interpreting messages, discouragement upon learning bad news, and technical issues. Though all respondents expressed interest in password protection of messages, there was also a strong desire for direct messages to limit misinterpretation of information. Conclusions Cell phone text messaging for communication of abnormal laboratory results is highly acceptable in this cohort of HIV-infected patients in rural Uganda. The feasibility of text messaging, including an optimal balance between privacy and comprehension, should be further studied.

  12. Mobile phone text messaging to improve knowledge and practice of diabetic foot care in a developing country: Feasibility and outcomes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hassan, Zeinab M

    2017-06-01

    To test the feasibility and effectiveness of using mobile phone text messaging to reinforce learning and the practice of diabetic foot care in a developing country. Ongoing learning reinforcement (2-3 times weekly) by text messaging followed an informal class on diabetic foot care in a community clinic setting. Subjects with cell phone access and no history of diabetic foot wounds or current wounds were recruited for participation (N = 225). Foot examinations and pretesting by survey occurred just before patients departed the clinic; the posttest survey and a final foot examination occurred 12 weeks later. The survey included basic demographic items along with items to measure knowledge and current foot care practices. One sample t tests (raw scores) and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests compared knowledge and practice before and after intervention. Initially, a majority of the sample (76%) reported poor levels of foot care. After 12 weeks text messaging is an economical, feasible, and effective method for educators to improve diabetic self-care, even in a developing country. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.

  13. Interest of pregnant women in the use of SMS (short message service) text messages for the improvement of perinatal and postnatal care.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cormick, Gabriela; Kim, Natalie A; Rodgers, Ashlei; Gibbons, Luz; Buekens, Pierre M; Belizán, José M; Althabe, Fernando

    2012-08-06

    Mobile health (mHealth) is emerging as a useful tool to improve healthcare access especially in the developing world, where limited access to health services is linked to poor antenatal care, and maternal and perinatal mortality.The objective of this study is to 1) understand pregnant women's access and usage of cell phones and 2) survey the health information needs and interests in a population attending public hospitals and health centers of two cities in Argentina. This information is not available and it is the basis to develop a strategy for improving maternal care via cell phones. Questionnaires were verbally administered to pregnant women who were attending an antenatal care visit in community health centers and public hospitals in Rosario, Santa Fe and Mercedes, Corrientes. Participants were 18 years of age or older and had previously given birth. The data obtained was qualitative and analyzed using SPSS version 18. A total of 147 pregnant women meeting inclusion criteria (Rosario: 63; Mercedes: 84) were approached and verbally consented to participate. The average age was 29.5 years, most lived in urban areas (89%) with a mean travel time of 43.4 minutes required to get to the health center and 57.3 minutes to get the hospital.Ninety-six percent of women (n = 140) responded that they would like to receive text messages and cell phone calls with information regarding prenatal care, although the topics and period of time to receive information varied greatly. Considering the vast majority of the interviewed women had access to and were interested in receiving text messages and calls with educational information regarding pregnancy and infant health, pregnant women in Argentina could benefit from such an mHealth program. The low access to Internet suggests it is not an option for this population; however, this cannot be assumed as representative of the country's situation.To retain active participation, other forms of health communication, such as a 2

  14. Efficacy of Web-Based Collection of Strength-Based Testimonials for Text Message Extension of Youth Suicide Prevention Program: Randomized Controlled Experiment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thiha, Phyo; Pisani, Anthony R; Gurditta, Kunali; Cherry, Erin; Peterson, Derick R; Kautz, Henry; Wyman, Peter A

    2016-11-09

    Equipping members of a target population to deliver effective public health messaging to peers is an established approach in health promotion. The Sources of Strength program has demonstrated the promise of this approach for "upstream" youth suicide prevention. Text messaging is a well-established medium for promoting behavior change and is the dominant communication medium for youth. In order for peer 'opinion leader' programs like Sources of Strength to use scalable, wide-reaching media such as text messaging to spread peer-to-peer messages, they need techniques for assisting peer opinion leaders in creating effective testimonials to engage peers and match program goals. We developed a Web interface, called Stories of Personal Resilience in Managing Emotions (StoryPRIME), which helps peer opinion leaders write effective, short-form messages that can be delivered to the target population in youth suicide prevention program like Sources of Strength. To determine the efficacy of StoryPRIME, a Web-based interface for remotely eliciting high school peer leaders, and helping them produce high-quality, personal testimonials for use in a text messaging extension of an evidence-based, peer-led suicide prevention program. In a double-blind randomized controlled experiment, 36 high school students wrote testimonials with or without eliciting from the StoryPRIME interface. The interface was created in the context of Sources of Strength-an evidence-based youth suicide prevention program-and 24 ninth graders rated these testimonials on relatability, usefulness/relevance, intrigue, and likability. Testimonials written with the StoryPRIME interface were rated as more relatable, useful/relevant, intriguing, and likable than testimonials written without StoryPRIME, P=.054. StoryPRIME is a promising way to elicit high-quality, personal testimonials from youth for prevention programs that draw on members of a target population to spread public health messages. ©Phyo Thiha, Anthony

  15. Supportive text messages to reduce mood symptoms and problem drinking in patients with primary depression or alcohol use disorder: protocol for an implementation research study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Agyapong, Vincent Israel Opoku; Mrklas, Kelly; Suen, Victoria Yung Mei; Rose, Marianne Sarah; Jahn, Megan; Gladue, Irene; Kozak, Jody; Leslie, Maureen; Dursun, Serdar; Ohinmaa, Arto; Greenshaw, Andrew

    2015-05-15

    Depression and Alcohol Use Disorders (AUDs) are two leading causes of disability worldwide and are associated with significant treatment challenges requiring new, innovative, cost-effective and technologically-based therapies including the use of supportive text messages. To determine the feasibility and effectiveness of supportive text messages in long-term follow-up to reduce mood symptoms and problem drinking in patients with Depression or AUD respectively and to explore the usefulness of self-reports of health services utilization as an outcomes measure. This will be a longitudinal, prospective, parallel-design, two-arm, placebo-controlled single-rater-blinded randomized clinical trial with a recruitment period of 6 months and an observation period of 12 months for each participant, with two strata based on primary diagnosis of Major Depressive Disorder or AUD. The sample size will be 120, with about 60 patients randomized from each primary diagnostic grouping. Patients in all intervention groups will receive twice-daily supportive SMS text messages for 3 months and then daily supportive text messages for the next three months. Patients will also receive a phone call every two weeks from the research assistant assigning treatment allocation to confirm that they are still receiving the text messages and to thank them for taking part in the study. Patients in the control group will receive no text messages but will also receive a phone call from the same research assistant every two weeks to thank them for taking part in the study. The study starts in April 2015 and ends in September 2016. It is envisaged that both qualitative and quantitative primary and secondary outcomes, including patient perceptions of the intervention, will shed light on the feasibility of using automated supportive text message interventions in long term for patients with Depression and AUD. This will inform a full-scale clinical trial. The paradigm for behavior change using text messages

  16. Maternal Obesity Management Using Mobile Technology: A Feasibility Study to Evaluate a Text Messaging Based Complex Intervention during Pregnancy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hora Soltani

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Background. Maternal obesity and excessive gestational weight gain (GWG are on the rise with negative impact on pregnancy and birth outcomes. Research into managing GWG using accessible technology is limited. The maternal obesity management using mobile technology (MOMTech study aimed at evaluating the feasibility of text messaging based complex intervention designed to support obese women (BMI ≥ 30 with healthier lifestyles and limit GWG. Methods. Participants received two daily text messages, supported by four appointments with healthy lifestyle midwife, diet and activity goal setting, and self-monitoring diaries. The comparison group were obese mothers who declined to participate but consented for their routinely collected data to be used for comparison. Postnatal interviews and focus groups with participants and the comparison group explored the intervention’s acceptability and suggested improvements. Results. Fourteen women completed the study which did not allow statistical analyses. However, participants had lower mean GWG than the comparison group (6.65 kg versus 9.74 kg and few (28% versus 50% exceeded the Institute of Medicine’s upper limit of 9 kg GWG for obese women. Conclusions. MOMTech was feasible within clinical setting and acceptable intervention to support women to limit GWG. Before further trials, slight modifications are planned to recruitment, text messages, and the logistics of consultation visits.

  17. Controller adherence following hospital discharge in high risk children: A pilot randomized trial of text message reminders.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kenyon, Chén C; Gruschow, Siobhan M; Quarshie, William O; Griffis, Heather; Leach, Michelle C; Zorc, Joseph J; Bryant-Stephens, Tyra C; Miller, Victoria A; Feudtner, Chris

    2018-02-13

    To assess the feasibility of a mobile health, inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) adherence reminder intervention and to characterize adherence trajectories immediately following severe asthma exacerbation in high-risk urban children with persistent asthma. Children aged 2-13 with persistent asthma were enrolled in this pilot randomized controlled trial during an asthma emergency department (ED) visit or hospitalization. Intervention arm participants received daily text message reminders for 30 days, and both arms received electronic sensors to measure ICS use. Primary outcomes were feasibility of sensor use and text message acceptability. Secondary outcomes included adherence to prescribed ICS regimen and 30-day adherence trajectories. Group-based trajectory modeling was used to examine adherence trajectories. Forty-one participants (mean age 5.9) were randomized to intervention (n = 21) or control (n = 20). Overall, 85% were Black, 88% had public insurance, and 51% of the caregivers had a high school education or less. Thirty-two participant families (78%) transmitted medication adherence data; of caregivers who completed the acceptability survey, 25 (96%) chose to receive daily reminders beyond that study interval. Secondary outcome analyses demonstrated similar average daily adherence between groups (intervention = 36%; control = 32%, P = 0.73). Three adherence trajectories were identified with none ever exceeding 80% adherence. Within a high-risk pediatric cohort, electronic monitoring of ICS use and adherence reminders delivered via text message were feasible for most participants, but there was no signal of effect. Adherence trajectories following severe exacerbation were suboptimal, demonstrating an important opportunity for asthma care improvement.

  18. High acceptability for cell phone text messages to improve communication of laboratory results with HIV-infected patients in rural Uganda: a cross-sectional survey study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Siedner, Mark J; Haberer, Jessica E; Bwana, Mwebesa Bosco; Ware, Norma C; Bangsberg, David R

    2012-06-21

    Patient-provider communication is a major challenge in resource-limited settings with large catchment areas. Though mobile phone usership increased 20-fold in Africa over the past decade, little is known about acceptability of, perceptions about disclosure and confidentiality, and preferences for cell phone communication of health information in the region. We performed structured interviews of fifty patients at the Immune Suppression Syndrome clinic in Mbarara, Uganda to assess four domains of health-related communication: a) cell phone use practices and literacy, b) preferences for laboratory results communication, c) privacy and confidentiality, and d) acceptability of and preferences for text messaging to notify patients of abnormal test results. Participants had a median of 38 years, were 56% female, and were residents of a large catchment area throughout southwestern Uganda. All participants expressed interest in a service to receive information about laboratory results by cell phone text message, stating benefits of increased awareness of their health and decreased transportation costs. Ninety percent reported that they would not be concerned for unintended disclosure. A minority additionally expressed concerns about difficulty interpreting messages, discouragement upon learning bad news, and technical issues. Though all respondents expressed interest in password protection of messages, there was also a strong desire for direct messages to limit misinterpretation of information. Cell phone text messaging for communication of abnormal laboratory results is highly acceptable in this cohort of HIV-infected patients in rural Uganda. The feasibility of text messaging, including an optimal balance between privacy and comprehension, should be further studied.

  19. High acceptability for cell phone text messages to improve communication of laboratory results with HIV-infected patients in rural Uganda: a cross-sectional survey study

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-01-01

    Background Patient-provider communication is a major challenge in resource-limited settings with large catchment areas. Though mobile phone usership increased 20-fold in Africa over the past decade, little is known about acceptability of, perceptions about disclosure and confidentiality, and preferences for cell phone communication of health information in the region. Methods We performed structured interviews of fifty patients at the Immune Suppression Syndrome clinic in Mbarara, Uganda to assess four domains of health-related communication: a) cell phone use practices and literacy, b) preferences for laboratory results communication, c) privacy and confidentiality, and d) acceptability of and preferences for text messaging to notify patients of abnormal test results. Results Participants had a median of 38 years, were 56% female, and were residents of a large catchment area throughout southwestern Uganda. All participants expressed interest in a service to receive information about laboratory results by cell phone text message, stating benefits of increased awareness of their health and decreased transportation costs. Ninety percent reported that they would not be concerned for unintended disclosure. A minority additionally expressed concerns about difficulty interpreting messages, discouragement upon learning bad news, and technical issues. Though all respondents expressed interest in password protection of messages, there was also a strong desire for direct messages to limit misinterpretation of information. Conclusions Cell phone text messaging for communication of abnormal laboratory results is highly acceptable in this cohort of HIV-infected patients in rural Uganda. The feasibility of text messaging, including an optimal balance between privacy and comprehension, should be further studied. PMID:22720901

  20. Perceptions of adult trauma patients on the acceptability of text messaging as an aid to reduce harmful drinking behaviours

    Science.gov (United States)

    2014-01-01

    Background Brief interventions (BIs) have been shown to be effective in modifying hazardous drinking behaviours in a range of settings. However, they are underutilised in hospitals due to resource constraints. We explored the perspectives of admitted trauma patients about the appeal, acceptability and content of a Brief Intervention (BI) delivered via text messages. Methods Thirty mobile phone users (≥16 years old) admitted to Auckland City Hospital as a result of injury were recruited (December 2010 – January 2011). Participants were interviewed face-to-face during their hospital stay using a semi-structured interview guide that explored topics including perceptions of the proposed intervention to reduce hazardous drinking and related harm, and perceived acceptability of an m-health program. Where issues relating to content of messages were raised by participants these were also captured. In addition, a brief survey captured information on demographic information, mobile phone usage and type of phone, along with the frequency of alcohol use. Results 22 of the 30 participants were male, and almost half were aged 20 to 39 years. The majority of participants identified as New Zealand Europeans, six as Māori (New Zealand's indigenous population) and of the remainder two each identified as Pacific and of Asian ethnicity. Most (28/30) participants used a mobile phone daily. 18 participants were deemed to be drinking in a non-hazardous manner, seven were hazardous drinkers, and three were non-drinkers. Most participants (21/30) indicated that text messages could be effective in reducing hazardous drinking and related harms, with more than half (17/30) signalling they would sign-up. Factors identified that would increase receptiveness included: awareness that the intervention was evidence-based; participants readiness-to-change; informative messages that include the consequences of drinking and practical advice; non-judgemental messages; and ease-of-use. Areas of

  1. The Uses of Text Messaging in Sexual Relationships Scale: Associations with risky sexual behavior among at-risk African American emerging adults

    Science.gov (United States)

    Broaddus, Michelle; Dickson-Gomez, Julia

    2017-01-01

    Qualitative and quantitative research was used to create the Uses of Texting in Sexual Relationships scale. At-risk, predominantly African American emerging adults participated in qualitative interviews (N = 20) and quantitative surveys (N = 110) about their uses of text messaging within romantic and sexual relationships. Exploratory factor analysis of items generated from interviews resulted in four subscales: Sexting, Relationship Maintenance, Relationship Development, and Texting for Sexual Safety. Exploratory analyses indicated associations of Sexting with more instances of condomless sex, and Texting for Sexual Safety with fewer instances of condomless sex, which was moderated by relationship power. Further research on the connections between text messaging in relationships and sexual behavior among high-risk and minority young adults is warranted, and intervention efforts to decrease sexual risks need to incorporate these avenues of sexual communication. PMID:27710089

  2. Mobile phone text messaging for improving the uptake of vaccinations: a systematic review protocol.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kalan, Robyn; Wiysonge, Charles S; Ramafuthole, Tshepiso; Allie, Kurt; Ebrahim, Fatima; Engel, Mark Emmanuel

    2014-08-04

    Low vaccine coverage is a major public health concern, the consequences of which contribute to around 1.5 million child deaths from vaccine-preventable diseases. Thus, innovative strategies to rapidly increase coverage and recall rates for vaccinations are urgently required. Mobile text messaging (or short messaging service, SMS) has the potential to help increase vaccination coverage and therefore we propose to conduct a review of the current best evidence for the use of SMS as an intervention to promote vaccination coverage. This article describes the protocol for a systematic review of the effectiveness of SMS in improving the uptake of vaccination. Primary and secondary outcomes of interest are prespecified. We will preferably include randomised controlled trials (RCTs). However, non-randomised studies (NRS) will be considered if there is an inadequate number of RCTs. We will search several bibliographic databases (eg,PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL, CENTRAL, Science Citation Index, Africa-Wide Information and WHOLIS electronic databases and search sources for grey literature. Following data extraction and assessment of risk of bias, we will meta-analyse studies and conduct subgroup analyses, according to intervention subtypes. We will assess clinical heterogeneity and statistical heterogeneity. For outcomes without quantitative data, a descriptive analysis will be used. This review protocol is registered in the PROSPERO International Prospective Register of systematic reviews, registration number 2014:CRD42014007531 ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethics is not required for this study, given that this is a protocol for a systematic review, which uses published data. The findings of this study will be disseminated through peer-reviewed publications and conference presentations. We anticipate that the results could be used by researchers and policymakers to help inform them of the efficacy of mobile phone text messaging interventions to promote increased vaccination coverage

  3. Text messaging versus email for emergency medicine residents' knowledge retention: a pilot comparison in the United States.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hoonpongsimanont, Wirachin; Kulkarni, Miriam; Tomas-Domingo, Pedro; Anderson, Craig; McCormack, Denise; Tu, Khoa; Chakravarthy, Bharath; Lotfipour, Shahram

    2016-01-01

    We evaluated the effectiveness of text messaging versus email, as a delivery method to enhance knowledge retention of emergency medicine (EM) content in EM residents. We performed a multi-centered, prospective, randomized study consisting of postgraduate year (PGY) 1 to PGY 3 & 4 residents in three United States EM residency programs in 2014. Fifty eight residents were randomized into one delivery group: text message or email. Participants completed a 40 question pre- and post-intervention exam. Primary outcomes were the means of pre- and post-intervention exam score differences. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, paired t-test, and multiple linear regressions. No significant difference was found between the primary outcomes of the two groups (P=0.51). PGY 2 status had a significant negative effect (P=0.01) on predicted exam score difference. Neither delivery method enhanced resident knowledge retention. Further research on implementation of mobile technology in residency education is required.

  4. Keep on brushing: a longitudinal study of motivational text messaging in young adults aged 18-24 years receiving Work and Income Support.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schluter, Philip; Lee, Martin; Hamilton, Greg; Coe, Gill; Messer-Perkins, Heather; Smith, Belinda

    2015-01-01

    Using text messaging, underpinned by the Health Belief Model, this study aimed to improve tooth brushing frequencies among unemployed young adults aged 18-24 years. Set within Work and Income's Linwood Community Link office (one Christchurch branch of the New Zealand Government's employment and beneficiary services), unemployed young adults aged 18-24 years with access to a mobile phone were recruited using either a purpose-built computer kiosk or Work and Income's Facebook site. Participants completed a baseline survey and then received and responded to a series of motivational text messages over 10 weeks. Self-reported tooth brushing frequency was the primary outcome variable. Important socio-demographic (age, gender, ethnicity, employment status) and method-specific (level of attrition, distribution of successful text messages deliveries, active withdrawal) variables were also collected. Longitudinal analyses of these responses employed generalized estimating equation (GEE) models. Four hundred and three registered for the trial, of whom 171 (42%) were eligible. Self-reported tooth brushing twice or more per day increased from 51% at baseline to 70% at week 3, 74% at week 6, and 73% at week 9 - an increase significant in crude (PInvention through motivational text messaging improved the measured oral health self-care behavior in a hard-to-reach group carrying a disproportionately heavy oral health burden. This intervention warrants further investigation. © 2014 American Association of Public Health Dentistry.

  5. A Mobile Text Message Intervention to Reduce Repeat Suicidal Episodes: Design and Development of Reconnecting After a Suicide Attempt (RAFT)

    OpenAIRE

    Larsen, Mark Erik; Shand, Fiona; Morley, Kirsten; Batterham, Philip J; Petrie, Katherine; Reda, Bill; Berrouiguet, Sofian; Haber, Paul S; Carter, Gregory; Christensen, Helen

    2017-01-01

    Background Suicide is a leading cause of death, particularly among young people. Continuity of care following discharge from hospital is critical, yet this is a time when individuals often lose contact with health care services. Offline brief contact interventions following a suicide attempt can reduce the number of repeat attempts, and text message (short message service, SMS) interventions are currently being evaluated. Objective The aim of this study was to extend postattempt caring contac...

  6. Communication accommodation in text messages: Exploring liking, power, and sex as predictors of textisms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Adams, Aubrie; Miles, Jai; Dunbar, Norah E; Giles, Howard

    2018-01-17

    This mixed-methods study applies Communication Accommodation Theory to explore how liking, power, and sex predict one's likelihood for using textisms in digital interpersonal interactions. Textisms are digital cues that convey nonverbal meaning and emotion in text communication. The main experiment used a hypothetical texting scenario to manipulate textism amounts (none/many) and participant's perceived power levels (low/equal/high) during texting interactions to examine the number of textisms participants used in subsequent responses in comparison to the number of textisms they viewed. Primary results show that (1) participants moderately converged to use similar amounts of textisms, and (2) those with low power who viewed many textisms were more likely to use textisms themselves during subsequent responses. Through the examination of adaption behaviors in text messaging, scholars can better understand the contexts in which users will include textisms to intentionally convey nonverbal meaning and emotion in digital communication.

  7. The feasibility, patterns of use and acceptability of using mobile phone text-messaging to improve treatment adherence and post-treatment review of children with uncomplicated malaria in western Kenya.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Otieno, Gabriel; Githinji, Sophie; Jones, Caroline; Snow, Robert W; Talisuna, Ambrose; Zurovac, Dejan

    2014-02-03

    Trials evaluating the impact of mobile phone text-messaging to support management of acute diseases, such as malaria, are urgently needed in Africa. There has been however a concern about the feasibility of interventions that rely on access to mobile phones among caregivers in rural areas. To assess the feasibility and inform development of an intervention to improve adherence to malaria medications and post-treatment review, mobile phone network, access, ownership and use among caregivers in western Kenya was assessed. A cross-sectional survey based on outpatient exit interviews was undertaken among caregivers of children with malaria at four trial facilities. The main outcomes were proportions of caregivers that have mobile signal at home; have access to mobile phones; are able to read; and use text-messaging. Willingness to receive text-message reminders was also explored. Descriptive analyses were performed. Of 400 interviewed caregivers, the majority were female (93.5%), mothers of the sick children (87.8%) and able to read (97.3%). Only 1.7% of caregivers were without any education. Nearly all (99.8%) reported access to a mobile signal at home. 93.0% (site range: 89-98%) had access to a mobile phone within their household while 73.8% (site range: 66-78%) possessed a personal phone. Among caregivers with mobile phone access, 93.6% (site range: 85-99%) used the phone to receive text-messages. Despite only 19% having electricity at home nearly all (99.7%) caregivers reported that they would be able to have permanent phone access to receive text-messages in the next 28 days. Willingness to receive text-message reminders was nearly universal (99.7%) with 41.7% of caregivers preferring texts in English, 32.3% in Kiswahili and 26.1% in Dholuo. Despite concerns that the feasibility of text-messaging interventions targeting caregivers may be compromised in rural high malaria risk areas in Kenya, very favourable conditions were found with respect to mobile network

  8. The Effects of Cell Phone and Text Message Conversations on Simulated Street Crossing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Banducci, Sarah E; Ward, Nathan; Gaspar, John G; Schab, Kurt R; Crowell, James A; Kaczmarski, Henry; Kramer, Arthur F

    2016-02-01

    A fully immersive, high-fidelity street-crossing simulator was used to examine the effects of texting on pedestrian street-crossing performance. Research suggests that street-crossing performance is impaired when pedestrians engage in cell phone conversations. Less is known about the impact of texting on street-crossing performance. Thirty-two young adults completed three distraction conditions in a simulated street-crossing task: no distraction, phone conversation, and texting. A hands-free headset and a mounted tablet were used to conduct the phone and texting conversations, respectively. Participants moved through the virtual environment via a manual treadmill, allowing them to select crossing gaps and change their gait. During the phone conversation and texting conditions, participants had fewer successful crossings and took longer to initiate crossing. Furthermore, in the texting condition, smaller percentage of time with head orientation toward the tablet, fewer number of head orientations toward the tablet, and greater percentage of total characters typed before initiating crossing predicted greater crossing success. Our results suggest that (a) texting is as unsafe as phone conversations for street-crossing performance and (b) when subjects completed most of the texting task before initiating crossing, they were more likely to make it safely across the street. Sending and receiving text messages negatively impact a range of real-world behaviors. These results may inform personal and policy decisions. © 2015, Human Factors and Ergonomics Society.

  9. Effects of Text Messaged Self-Monitoring on Class Attendance and Punctuality of At-Risk College Student Athletes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bicard, David F.; Lott, Valorie; Mills, Jessica; Bicard, Sara; Baylot-Casey, Laura

    2012-01-01

    This study examined the effects of text messaging class arrival to an academic counselor on the attendance and punctuality of 4 college student athletes. Each participant had a history of class tardiness and was considered to be at risk for academic failure. Class attendance and punctuality improved for all participants. (Contains 1 figure.)

  10. MyVoice National Text Message Survey of Youth Aged 14 to 24 Years: Study Protocol.

    Science.gov (United States)

    DeJonckheere, Melissa; Nichols, Lauren P; Moniz, Michelle H; Sonneville, Kendrin R; Vydiswaran, V G Vinod; Zhao, Xinyan; Guetterman, Timothy C; Chang, Tammy

    2017-12-11

    There has been little progress in adolescent health outcomes in recent decades. Researchers and youth-serving organizations struggle to accurately elicit youth voice and translate youth perspectives into health care policy. Our aim is to describe the protocol of the MyVoice Project, a longitudinal mixed methods study designed to engage youth, particularly those not typically included in research. Text messaging surveys are collected, analyzed, and disseminated in real time to leverage youth perspectives to impact policy. Youth aged 14 to 24 years are recruited to receive weekly text message surveys on a variety of policy and health topics. The research team, including academic researchers, methodologists, and youth, develop questions through an iterative writing and piloting process. Question topics are elicited from community organizations, researchers, and policy makers to inform salient policies. A youth-centered interactive platform has been developed that automatically sends confidential weekly surveys and incentives to participants. Parental consent is not required because the survey is of minimal risk to participants. Recruitment occurs online (eg, Facebook, Instagram, university health research website) and in person at community events. Weekly surveys collect both quantitative and qualitative data. Quantitative data are analyzed using descriptive statistics. Qualitative data are quickly analyzed using natural language processing and traditional qualitative methods. Mixed methods integration and analysis supports a more in-depth understanding of the research questions. We are currently recruiting and enrolling participants through in-person and online strategies. Question development, weekly data collection, data analysis, and dissemination are in progress. MyVoice quickly ascertains the thoughts and opinions of youth in real time using a widespread, readily available technology-text messaging. Results are disseminated to researchers, policy makers, and

  11. Texting for Health: The Use of Participatory Methods to Develop Healthy Lifestyle Messages for Teens

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hingle, Melanie; Nichter, Mimi; Medeiros, Melanie; Grace, Samantha

    2013-01-01

    Objective: To develop and test messages and a mobile phone delivery protocol designed to influence the nutrition and physical activity knowledge, attitudes, and behavior of adolescents. Design: Nine focus groups, 4 classroom discussions, and an 8-week pilot study exploring message content, format, origin, and message delivery were conducted over…

  12. Using a treatment partner and text messaging to improve adherence ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    This paper reports on preliminary qualitative research preceding a randomised ... Results: The caregivers interviewed were all mothers of MHSU who took .... combination: (1) pragmatic reasons; (2) the need to compare ..... treatment partner should contact the participants i.e. through ... notes to verbal face to face messages.

  13. Text Messaging and Mobile Phone Apps as Interventions to Improve Adherence in Adolescents With Chronic Health Conditions: A Systematic Review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Badawy, Sherif M; Barrera, Leonardo; Sinno, Mohamad G; Kaviany, Saara; O'Dwyer, Linda C; Kuhns, Lisa M

    2017-05-15

    The number of adolescents with chronic health conditions (CHCs) continues to increase. Medication nonadherence is a global challenge among adolescents across chronic conditions and is associated with poor health outcomes. While there has been growing interest in the use of mHealth technology to improve medication adherence among adolescents with CHCs, particularly text messaging and mobile phone apps, there has been no prior systematic review of their efficacy. The purpose of this review was to systematically evaluate the most recent evidence for the efficacy of text messaging and mobile phone apps as interventions to promote medication adherence among adolescents with CHCs. PubMed, Embase, CENTRAL, PsycINFO, Web of Science, Google Scholar, and additional databases were searched from 1995 until November 2015. An additional hand search of related themes in the Journal of Medical Internet Research was also conducted. The Preferred Reporting Results of Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines were followed. Two reviewers independently screened titles/abstracts, assessed full-text articles, extracted data from included articles, and assessed their quality using Grades of Recommendation, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation criteria. Included studies were described in original research articles that targeted adherence in adolescents with CHCs (12-24 years-old). Of the 1423 records examined, 15 met predefined criteria: text messaging (n=12) and mobile phone apps (n=3). Most studies were performed in the United States (11/15, 73%), were randomized-controlled trials (8/15, 53%), had a sample size <50 (11/15, 73%), and included adherence self-report and/or biomarkers (9/15, 60%). Only four studies were designed based on a theoretical framework. Approaches for text messaging and mobile phone app interventions varied across studies. Seven articles (7/15, 47%) reported significant improvement in adherence with moderate to large standardized mean differences. Most of

  14. MessageSpace: a messaging system for health research

    Science.gov (United States)

    Escobar, Rodrigo D.; Akopian, David; Parra-Medina, Deborah; Esparza, Laura

    2013-03-01

    Mobile Health (mHealth) has emerged as a promising direction for delivery of healthcare services via mobile communication devices such as cell phones. Examples include texting-based interventions for chronic disease monitoring, diabetes management, control of hypertension, smoking cessation, monitoring medication adherence, appointment keeping and medical test result delivery; as well as improving patient-provider communication, health information communication, data collection and access to health records. While existing messaging systems very well support bulk messaging and some polling applications, they are not designed for data collection and processing of health research oriented studies. For that reason known studies based on text-messaging campaigns have been constrained in participant numbers. In order to empower healthcare promotion and education research, this paper presents a system dedicated for healthcare research. It is designed for convenient communication with various study groups, feedback collection and automated processing.

  15. Use of email, cell phone and text message between patients and primary-care physicians: cross-sectional study in a French-speaking part of Switzerland.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dash, Jonathan; Haller, Dagmar M; Sommer, Johanna; Junod Perron, Noelle

    2016-10-05

    Physicians' daily work is increasingly affected by the use of emails, text messages and cell phone calls with their patients. The aim of this study was to describe their use between primary-care physicians and patients in a French-speaking part of Switzerland. A cross-sectional mail survey was conducted among all primary-care physicians of Geneva canton (n = 636). The questionnaire focused on the frequency of giving access to, type of use, advantages and disadvantages of email, cell phone calls and text messages communication between physicians and patients. Six hundred thirty-six questionnaires were mailed, 412 (65 %) were returned and 372 (58 %) could be analysed (37 refusals and three blanks). Seventy-two percent physicians gave their email-address and 74 % their cell phone number to their patients. Emails were used to respond to patients' questions (82 %) and change appointments (72 %) while cell phone calls and text messages were used to follow patients' health conditions. Sixty-four percent of those who used email communication never discussed the rules for email exchanges, and 54 % did not address confidentiality issues with their patients. Most commonly identified advantages of emails, cell phone calls and text messages were improved relationship with the patient, saving time (for emails) and improving the follow-up (for cell phone and text messages). The main disadvantages included misuse by the patient, interference with private life and lack of reimbursement. These tools are widely used by primary-care physicians with their patients. More attention should be paid to confidentiality, documentation and reimbursement when using email communication in order to optimize its use.

  16. Smartphone Technology and Text Messaging for Weight Loss in Young Adults: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stephens, Janna D; Yager, Allison M; Allen, Jerilyn

    Using smartphone technology and text messaging for health is a growing field. This type of technology is well integrated into the lives of young adults. However, few studies have tested the effect of this type of technology to promote weight loss in young adults OBJECTIVE:: The purpose of this study is to test the effectiveness of a behaviorally based smartphone application for weight loss combined with text messaging from a health coach on weight, body mass index (BMI), and waist circumference in young adults as compared with a control condition. Sixty-two young adults, aged 18 to 25 years, were randomized to receive (1) a smartphone application + health coach intervention and counseling sessions or (2) control condition with a counseling session. All outcome measures were tested at baseline and 3 months. These included weight, BMI, waist circumference, dietary habits, physical activity habits, and self-efficacy for healthy eating and physical activity. The sample was 71% female and 39% white, with an average age of 20 years and average BMI of 28.5 kg/m. Participants in the smartphone + health coach group lost significantly more weight (P = .026) and had a significant reduction in both BMI (P = .024) and waist circumference (P technology and feedback from a health coach on improving weight in a group of diverse young adults.

  17. Determining the impact of text messaging for sexual health promotion to young people.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gold, Judy; Lim, Megan S C; Hocking, Jane S; Keogh, Louise A; Spelman, Tim; Hellard, Margaret E

    2011-04-01

    The use of new technologies, such as mobile phones and internet, has increased dramatically in recent years. Text messages offer a novel method of sexual health promotion to young people who are the greatest users of new technology and are also at high risk of sexually transmitted infections (STIs). In January 2008, young people aged between 16 and 29 years were recruited from a music festival in Melbourne, Australia. They completed a short survey and were asked to provide their mobile phone numbers. Participants received fortnightly short messaging service (SMS) relating to sexual health for 4 months, and then completed an online follow-up survey. Survey data were weighted to account for those lost to follow-up. McNemar's test was used to compare changes in survey responses. A total of 1771 participants were included in analysis as they were sexually active and provided a valid mobile phone number at baseline. In all, 18% (319/1771) withdrew from receiving the SMS during the broadcast period and 40% (587/1452) completed the follow-up survey. The majority reported on the follow-up survey that they found the SMS entertaining (80%), informative (68%), and they showed the SMS to others (73%). Weighted analyses found a significant increase in knowledge (P rate, positive feedback, and an observed improvement in sexual health knowledge and STI testing.

  18. "Even if you know everything you can forget": health worker perceptions of mobile phone text-messaging to improve malaria case-management in Kenya.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Caroline O H Jones

    Full Text Available This paper presents the results of a qualitative study to investigate the perceptions and experiences of health workers involved in a a cluster-randomized controlled trial of a novel intervention to improve health worker malaria case-management in 107 government health facilities in Kenya. The intervention involved sending text-messages about paediatric outpatient malaria case-management accompanied by "motivating" quotes to health workers' mobile phones. Ten malaria messages were developed reflecting recommendations from the Kenyan national guidelines. Two messages were delivered per day for 5 working days and the process was repeated for 26 weeks (May to October 2009. The accompanying quotes were unique to each message. The intervention was delivered to 119 health workers and there were significant improvements in correct artemether-lumefantrine (AL management both immediately after the intervention (November 2009 and 6 months later (May 2010. In-depth interviews with 24 health workers were undertaken to investigate the possible drivers of this change. The results suggest high acceptance of all components of the intervention, with the active delivery of information in an on the job setting, the ready availability of new and stored text messages and the perception of being kept 'up to date' as important factors influencing practice. Applying the construct of stages of change we infer that in this intervention the SMS messages were operating primarily at the action and maintenance stages of behaviour change achieving their effect by creating an enabling environment and providing a prompt to action for the implementation of case management practices that had already been accepted as the clinical norm by the health workers. Future trials testing the effectiveness of SMS reminders in creating an enabling environment for the establishment of new norms in clinical practice as well as in providing a prompt to action for the implementation of the new

  19. Moving the campaign from the front door to the front pocket: field experimental evidence on the effect of phrasing and timing of text messages on voter turnout

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bhatti, Yosef; Dahlgaard, Jens Olav; Hansen, Jonas Hedegaard

    2017-01-01

    Despite the widespread scholarly attention given to get-out-the-vote tactics the recent one and a half decade, few have studied the effect of short text messages (SMS) on voter turnout, and no previous such study has been conducted outside the US. We analyze four SMS experiments with more than 300......,000 voters conducted in relation to two elections in Denmark and find intention-to-treat (ITT) effects between 0.33 and 1.82 percentage points with a pooled effect of 0.74 percentage points. Furthermore, we vary the timing and the content of the messages to test existing theories of text messages...... as mobilization tools. In one experiment, we find messages delivered before Election Day to have a higher effect than those delivered on Election Day, while we find no additional effect of delivering multiple messages. We also vary message content and in general find no significant differences from sending...

  20. Text messaging among residents and faculty in a university general surgery residency program: prevalence, purpose, and patient care.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shah, Dhruvil R; Galante, Joseph M; Bold, Richard J; Canter, Robert J; Martinez, Steve R

    2013-01-01

    There is little information about the use of text messaging (texting) devices among resident and faculty physicians for patient-related care (PRC). To determine the prevalence, frequency, purpose, and concerns regarding texting among resident and attending surgeons and to identify factors associated with PRC texting. E-mail survey. University medical center and its affiliated hospitals. Surgery resident and attending staff. Prevalence, frequency, purpose, and concerns regarding patient-related care text messaging. Overall, 73 (65%) surveyed physicians responded, including 45 resident (66%) and 28 attending surgeons (62%). All respondents owned a texting device. Majority of surgery residents (88%) and attendings (71%) texted residents, whereas only 59% of residents and 65% of attendings texted other faculty. Most resident to resident text occurred at a frequency of 3-5 times/d (43%) compared with most attending to resident texts, which occurred 1-2 times/d (33%). Most resident to attending (25%) and attending to attending (30%) texts occurred 1-2 times/d. Among those that texted, PRC was the most frequently reported purpose for resident to resident (46%), resident to attending (64%), attending to resident (82%), and attending to other attending staff (60%) texting. Texting was the most preferred method to communicate about routine PRC (47% of residents vs 44% of attendings). Age (OR: 0.86, 95% CI: 0.79-0.95; p = 0.003), but not sex, specialty/clinical rotation, academic rank, or postgraduate year (PGY) level predicted PRC texting. Most resident and attending staff surveyed utilize texting, mostly for PRC. Texting was preferred for communicating routine PRC information. Our data may facilitate the development of guidelines for the appropriate use of PRC texting. Copyright © 2013 Association of Program Directors in Surgery. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  1. The Willingness to Prevent Obesity via Text Messaging among Low-Income African Americans Living in Single-Family Homes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wallace, Edward

    2017-01-01

    Background and Purpose: Racial and ethnic minority populations are disproportionally affected by obesity. Text messaging is a major feature of mobile phones and is popular because it allows people to receive information effectively, unobtrusively, and privately. However, the willingness to exercise and eat healthy to prevent obesity by receiving…

  2. Text messaging as an adjunct to a web-based intervention for college student alcohol use: A preliminary study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tahaney, Kelli D; Palfai, Tibor P

    2017-10-01

    Brief, web-based motivational interventions have shown promising results for reducing alcohol use and associated harm among college students. However, findings regarding which alcohol use outcomes are impacted are mixed and effects tend to be small to moderate, with effect sizes decreasing over longer-term follow-up periods. As a result, these interventions may benefit from adjunctive strategies to bolster students' engagement with intervention material and to extend interventions beyond initial contacts into student's daily lives. This study tested the efficacy of text messaging as an adjunct to a web-based intervention for heavy episodic drinking college students. One-hundred and thirteen undergraduate student risky drinkers recruited from an introductory psychology class were randomly assigned to one of three conditions-assessment only (AO), web intervention (WI), and web intervention plus text messaging (WI+TXT). Heavy drinking episodes (HDEs), weekend quantity per occasion, and alcohol-related consequences were assessed at baseline and one month follow-up. Univariate analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used to assess the influence of condition assignment on 1-month outcomes, controlling for baseline variables. Planned contrasts showed that those in the WI+TXT condition showed significantly less weekend drinking than those in the AO and WI conditions. Although those in the WI+TXT condition showed significantly fewer HDEs compared to AO, it was not significantly different than the WI only condition. No differences were observed on alcohol-related problems. These findings provide partial support for the view that text messaging may be a useful adjunct to web-based interventions for reducing alcohol consumption among student drinkers. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  3. Automated Behavioral Text Messaging and Face-to-Face Intervention for Parents of Overweight or Obese Preschool Children: Results From a Pilot Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Militello, Lisa; Melnyk, Bernadette Mazurek; Hekler, Eric B; Small, Leigh; Jacobson, Diana

    2016-03-14

    Children are 5 times more likely to be overweight at the age of 12 years if they are overweight during the preschool period. The purpose of this study was to establish the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary effects of a cognitive behavioral intervention (TEXT2COPE) synergized with tailored mobile technology (mHealth) on the healthy lifestyle behaviors of parents of overweight and obese preschoolers delivered in a primary care setting. Fifteen preschooler-parent dyads recruited through primary care clinics completed a manualized 7-week cognitive behavioral skills building intervention. Beck's Cognitive Theory guided the TEXT2COPE intervention content and Fogg's Behavior Model guided the implementation. The intervention employed a combination of face-to-face clinic visits and ecological momentary interventions using text messaging (short message service, SMS). To enhance the intervention's relevance to the family's needs, parents dictated the wording of the text messages and also were able to adapt the frequency and timing of delivery throughout program implementation. Self-reported findings indicate that the program is feasible and acceptable in this population. The intervention showed preliminary effects with significant improvements on parental knowledge about nutrition (P=.001) and physical activity (P=.012) for their children, parental beliefs (P=.001) toward healthy lifestyles, and parental behaviors (P=.040) toward engaging in healthy lifestyle choices for their children. Effect sizes were medium to large for all variables. The timing, frequency, and wording of the text messages were tailored to the individual families, with 69% of parents (9/13) increasing the frequency of the tailored SMS from being sent once weekly to as many as 5 times a week. Utilizing a cognitive behavioral skills intervention with SMS has great potential for supporting clinical care of overweight and obese preschool children and their families. Further exploration of the

  4. Problematic cell phone use for text messaging and substance abuse in early adolescence (11- to 13-year-olds).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gallimberti, Luigi; Buja, Alessandra; Chindamo, Sonia; Terraneo, Alberto; Marini, Elena; Rabensteiner, Andrea; Vinelli, Angela; Gomez Perez, Luis Javier; Baldo, Vincenzo

    2016-03-01

    The aim of our study was to examine the association between problematic cell phone use (PCPU) for text messaging and substance abuse in young adolescents. This cross-sectional study was conducted on the basis of an ad hoc questionnaire, during the 2014-2015 school year in a province of the Veneto Region (Italy); it involved a sample of 1156 students in grades 6 to 8 (11 to 13 years old). A self-report scale based on the Short Message Service (SMS) Problem Use Diagnostic Questionnaire (SMS-PUDQ) was administered to assess the sample's PCPU. A multivariate logistic regression model was applied to seek associations between PCPU (as the dependent variable) and independent variables. The proportion of students who reported a PCPU increased with age in girls (13.5% in 6th grade, 16.4% in 7th grade, and 19.5% in 8th grade), but not in boys (14.3% in 6th grade, 18.0% in 7th grade, and 14.8% in 8th grade). Logistic regression showed that drunkenness at least once and energy drink consumption raised the odds of PCPU, whereas reading books, higher average school marks, and longer hours of sleep were associated with lower odds of PCPU in early adolescence. our findings confirm a widespread PCPU for text messaging among early adolescents. The odds of PCPU is greater in young people at risk of other substance abuse behavior.

  5. Stepwise Development of a Text Messaging-Based Bullying Prevention Program for Middle School Students (BullyDown)

    OpenAIRE

    Ybarra, Michele L; Prescott, Tonya L; Espelage, Dorothy L

    2016-01-01

    Background Bullying is a significant public health issue among middle school-aged youth. Current prevention programs have only a moderate impact. Cell phone text messaging technology (mHealth) can potentially overcome existing challenges, particularly those that are structural (e.g., limited time that teachers can devote to non-educational topics). To date, the description of the development of empirically-based mHealth-delivered bullying prevention programs are lacking in the literature. Obj...

  6. Unified Internet Messaging

    OpenAIRE

    Healy, Paul; Barber, Declan

    2015-01-01

    As telephony services, mobile services and internet services continue to converge, the prospect of providing Unified Messaging and even Unified Communications becomes increasingly achievable. This paper discusses the growing importance of IP-based networks to Unified Messaging developments and examines some of the key services and protocols that are likely to make Unified Messaging more widely available. In this initial paper, we limit ourselves initially to the unification of text-based mess...

  7. Using Facebook and text messaging to deliver a weight loss program to college students.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Napolitano, Melissa A; Hayes, Sharon; Bennett, Gary G; Ives, Allison K; Foster, Gary D

    2013-01-01

    Between 31 and 35% of the college-aged population is overweight or obese, yet few weight loss trials for this population have been conducted. This study examined the feasibility, acceptability, and initial efficacy of a technology-based 8-week weight loss intervention among college students. Students (N = 52) were randomly assigned to one of the three arms: Facebook (n = 17); Facebook Plus text messaging and personalized feedback (n = 18); Waiting List control (n = 17), with assessments at 4 weeks and 8 weeks (post-treatment). Participants were 20.47 ± 2.19 years old, 86.45 ± 17.11 kg, with a body mass index of 31.36 ± 5.3 kg/m(2) . Participants were primarily female (86.5%), and the sample was racially diverse (57.7% Caucasian, 30.8% African American, 5.8% Hispanic, and 5.7% other races). The primary outcome was weight loss after 8 weeks (post-treatment); 96.0% of the participants completed this assessment. At 8 weeks, the Facebook Plus group had significantly greater weight loss (-2.4 ± 2.5 kg) than the Facebook (-0.63 ± 2.4 kg) and Waiting List (-0.24 ± 2.6 kg) (both Ps Facebook and Waiting List groups. Results show preliminary efficacy and acceptability of the two active intervention arms (97.0% found the program helpful, 81.3% found the videos/handouts helpful, and 100% would recommend the program to others). Results indicate the potential for an innovative weight loss intervention that uses technology platforms (Facebook and text messaging) that are frequently used and already integrated into the cultural life of college students. Copyright © 2012 The Obesity Society.

  8. A text messaging intervention to improve heart failure self-management after hospital discharge in a largely African-American population: before-after study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nundy, Shantanu; Razi, Rabia R; Dick, Jonathan J; Smith, Bryan; Mayo, Ainoa; O'Connor, Anne; Meltzer, David O

    2013-03-11

    There is increasing interest in finding novel approaches to reduce health disparities in readmissions for acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF). Text messaging is a promising platform for improving chronic disease self-management in low-income populations, yet is largely unexplored in ADHF. The purpose of this pre-post study was to assess the feasibility and acceptability of a text message-based (SMS: short message service) intervention in a largely African American population with ADHF and explore its effects on self-management. Hospitalized patients with ADHF were enrolled in an automated text message-based heart failure program for 30 days following discharge. Messages provided self-care reminders and patient education on diet, symptom recognition, and health care navigation. Demographic and cell phone usage data were collected on enrollment, and an exit survey was administered on completion. The Self-Care of Heart Failure Index (SCHFI) was administered preintervention and postintervention and compared using sample t tests (composite) and Wilcoxon rank sum tests (individual). Clinical data were collected through chart abstraction. Of 51 patients approached for recruitment, 27 agreed to participate and 15 were enrolled (14 African-American, 1 White). Barriers to enrollment included not owning a personal cell phone (n=12), failing the Mini-Mental exam (n=3), needing a proxy (n=2), hard of hearing (n=1), and refusal (n=3). Another 3 participants left the study for health reasons and 3 others had technology issues. A total of 6 patients (5 African-American, 1 White) completed the postintervention surveys. The mean age was 50 years (range 23-69) and over half had Medicaid or were uninsured (60%, 9/15). The mean ejection fraction for those with systolic dysfunction was 22%, and at least two-thirds had a prior hospitalization in the past year. Participants strongly agreed that the program was easy to use (83%), reduced pills missed (66%), and decreased salt intake

  9. Effect of a Counseling Session Bolstered by Text Messaging on Self-Selected Health Behaviors in College Students: A Preliminary Randomized Controlled Trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sandrick, Janice; Tracy, Doreen; Eliasson, Arn; Roth, Ashley; Bartel, Jeffrey; Simko, Melanie; Bowman, Tracy; Harouse-Bell, Karen; Kashani, Mariam; Vernalis, Marina

    2017-05-17

    The college experience is often the first time when young adults live independently and make their own lifestyle choices. These choices affect dietary behaviors, exercise habits, techniques to deal with stress, and decisions on sleep time, all of which direct the trajectory of future health. There is a need for effective strategies that will encourage healthy lifestyle choices in young adults attending college. This preliminary randomized controlled trial tested the effect of coaching and text messages (short message service, SMS) on self-selected health behaviors in the domains of diet, exercise, stress, and sleep. A second analysis measured the ripple effect of the intervention on health behaviors not specifically selected as a goal by participants. Full-time students aged 18-30 years were recruited by word of mouth and campuswide advertisements (flyers, posters, mailings, university website) at a small university in western Pennsylvania from January to May 2015. Exclusions included pregnancy, eating disorders, chronic medical diagnoses, and prescription medications other than birth control. Of 60 participants, 30 were randomized to receive a single face-to-face meeting with a health coach to review results of behavioral questionnaires and to set a health behavior goal for the 8-week study period. The face-to-face meeting was followed by SMS text messages designed to encourage achievement of the behavioral goal. A total of 30 control subjects underwent the same health and behavioral assessments at intake and program end but did not receive coaching or SMS text messages. The texting app showed that 87.31% (2187/2505) of messages were viewed by intervention participants. Furthermore, 28 of the 30 intervention participants and all 30 control participants provided outcome data. Among intervention participants, 22 of 30 (73%) showed improvement in health behavior goal attainment, with the whole group (n=30) showing a mean improvement of 88% (95% CI 39-136). Mean

  10. Mobile MyPlate: A Pilot Study Using Text Messaging to Provide Nutrition Education and Promote Better Dietary Choices in College Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brown, Onikia N.; O'Connor, Lauren E.; Savaiano, Dennis

    2014-01-01

    Objective: To evaluate the acceptance and effectiveness of repetitive nutrition-related text messages on college students' nutrition knowledge and fruit and vegetable consumption. Participants: One hundred fifty undergraduate (18-24 years old) non-health major students with a texting mobile phone. Methods: The intervention group received biweekly…

  11. Text message-based diabetes self-management support (SMS4BG): study protocol for a randomised controlled trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dobson, Rosie; Whittaker, Robyn; Jiang, Yannan; Shepherd, Matthew; Maddison, Ralph; Carter, Karen; Cutfield, Richard; McNamara, Catherine; Khanolkar, Manish; Murphy, Rinki

    2016-04-02

    Addressing the increasing prevalence, and associated disease burden, of diabetes is a priority of health services internationally. Interventions to support patients to effectively self-manage their condition have the potential to reduce the risk of costly and debilitating complications. The utilisation of mobile phones to deliver self-management support allows for patient-centred care at the frequency and intensity that patients desire from outside the clinic environment. Self-Management Support for Blood Glucose (SMS4BG) is a novel text message-based intervention for supporting people with diabetes to improve self-management behaviours and achieve better glycaemic control and is tailored to individual patient preferences, demographics, clinical characteristics, and culture. This study aims to assess whether SMS4BG can improve glycaemic control in adults with poorly controlled diabetes. This paper outlines the rationale and methods of the trial. A two-arm, parallel, randomised controlled trial will be conducted across New Zealand health districts. One thousand participants will be randomised at a 1:1 ratio to receive SMS4BG, a theoretically based and individually tailored automated text message-based diabetes self-management support programme (intervention) in addition to usual care, or usual care alone (control). The primary outcome is change in glycaemic control (HbA1c) at 9 months. Secondary outcomes include glycaemic control at 3 and 6 months, self-efficacy, self-care behaviours, diabetes distress, health-related quality of life, perceived social support, and illness perceptions. Cost information and healthcare utilisation will also be collected as well as intervention satisfaction and interaction. This study will provide information on the effectiveness of a text message-based self-management support tool for people with diabetes. If found to be effective it has the potential to provide individualised support to people with diabetes across New Zealand (and

  12. Text messages to increase attendance to follow-up cervical cancer screening appointments among HPV-positive Tanzanian women (Connected2Care)

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Linde, Ditte S; Andersen, Marianne S; Mwaiselage, Julius D

    2017-01-01

    group (standard care). In a period of 10 months, the intervention group will receive 15 one-directional health educative text messages and SMS reminders for their appointment. The total sample size will be 700 with 350 women in each study arm. Primary outcome is attendance rate for follow-up. Secondary...... on how such interventions may perform in relation to cervical cancer screening in low-income settings. This study aims to assess the degree to which a Short Message Service (SMS) intervention can increase attendance at appointments among women who have tested positive for high-risk (HR) Human...

  13. Effect of Mobile Phone Text Message Reminders on Routine Immunization Uptake in Pakistan: Randomized Controlled Trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kazi, Abdul Momin; Ali, Murtaza; Zubair, Khurram; Kalimuddin, Hussain; Kazi, Abdul Nafey; Iqbal, Saleem Perwaiz; Collet, Jean-Paul; Ali, Syed Asad

    2018-03-07

    Improved routine immunization (RI) coverage is recommended as the priority public health strategy to decrease vaccine-preventable diseases and eradicate polio in Pakistan and worldwide. The objective of this study was to ascertain whether customized, automated, one-way text messaging (short message service, SMS) reminders delivered to caregivers via mobile phones when a child is due for an RI visit can improve vaccination uptake and timelines in Pakistan. This was a randomized controlled trial, conducted in an urban squatter settlement area of Karachi, Pakistan. Infants less than 2 weeks of age with at least one family member who had a valid mobile phone connection and was comfortable receiving and reading SMS text messages were included. Participants were randomized to the intervention (standard care + one-way SMS reminder) or control (standard care) groups. The primary outcome was to compare the proportion of children immunized up to date at 18 weeks of age. Vaccine given at 6, 10, and 14 weeks schedule includes DPT-Hep-B-Hib vaccine (ie, diphtheria, pertussis, and tetanus; hepatitis B; and Haemophilus influenza type b) and oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV). Data were analyzed using chi-square tests of independence and tested for both per protocol (PP) and intention-to-treat (ITT) analyses. Out of those approached, 84.3% (300/356) of the participants were eligible for enrollment and 94.1% (318/338) of the participants had a working mobile phone. Only children in the PP analyses, who received an SMS reminder for vaccine uptake at 6 weeks visit, showed a statistically significant difference (96.0%, 86/90 vs 86.4%, 102/118; P=.03).The immunization coverage was consistently higher in the intervention group according to ITT analyses at the 6 weeks scheduled visit (76.0% vs 71.3%, P=.36). The 10 weeks scheduled visit (58.7% vs 52.7%, P=.30) and the 14 weeks scheduled visit (31.3% vs 26.0%, P=.31), however, were not statistically significant. Automated simple one-way SMS

  14. The Effect of Text Messaging on 9- and 10-Year-Old Children's Reading, Spelling and Phonological Processing Skills

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wood, C.; Jackson, E.; Hart, L.; Plester, B.; Wilde, L.

    2011-01-01

    This paper reports on an intervention study that considered the impact of text messaging on 9- to 10-year-old children's literacy skills. One hundred and fourteen children who had never owned a mobile phone before were recruited and randomly allocated to either the intervention or control conditions. All children were pre- and post-tested on a…

  15. A Randomized Controlled Trial of a Text Messaging Intervention to Promote Virologic Suppression and Retention in Care in an Urban Safety-Net HIV Clinic: The Connect4Care (C4C) Trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Christopoulos, Katerina A; Riley, Elise D; Carrico, Adam W; Tulsky, Jacqueline; Moskowitz, Judith T; Dilworth, Samantha; Coffin, Lara S; Wilson, Leslie; Peretz, Jason Johnson; Hilton, Joan F

    2018-02-21

    Text messaging is a promising strategy to support HIV care engagement, but little is known about its efficacy in urban safety-net HIV clinic populations. We conducted a randomized controlled trial of a supportive and motivational text messaging intervention, Connect4Care (C4C), among viremic patients who had a history of poor retention or were new to clinic. Participants were randomized (stratified by new HIV diagnosis status) to receive one of the following for 12 months: 1) thrice-weekly intervention messages, plus texted primary care appointment reminders and a monthly text message requesting confirmation of study participation, or; 2) texted reminders and monthly messages alone. Viral load was assessed at 6 and 12 months. The primary outcome was virologic suppression (<200 copies/mL) at 12 months, estimated via repeated measures log-binomial regression, adjusted for new diagnosis status. The secondary outcome was retention in clinic care. Between August 2013-November 2015, 230 participants were randomized. Virologic suppression at 12 months was similar between intervention and control participants (48.8% vs. 45.8%), with negligible change from 6-month estimates, yielding RR 1.07 (95% CI: 0.82, 1.39). Suppression was higher in the newly diagnosed (78.3% vs. 45.3%). There were no intervention effects on the secondary outcome. Exploratory analyses suggested that patients with more responses to study text messages had better outcomes, regardless of arm. The C4C text messaging intervention did not significantly increase virologic suppression or retention in care. Response to text messages may be a useful way for providers to gauge risk for poor HIV outcomes. NCT01917994.

  16. Health education via mobile text messaging for glycemic control in adults with type 2 diabetes: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saffari, Mohsen; Ghanizadeh, Ghader; Koenig, Harold G

    2014-12-01

    Diabetes type 2 is an increasing problem worldwide that may be managed through education. Text-messaging using a cell phone can assist with self-care. The aim of this study was to systematically review the impact of education through mobile text-messaging on glycemic control. The design was a systematic review with meta-analysis. Five electronic databases were searched to access English studies involving a randomized controlled trial design that used text-messaging educational interventions in patients with type 2 diabetes during an 11-year period (2003-2013). Studies were evaluated using a quality assessment scale adapted from Jadad scale and Cochrane handbook. Extraction of data was carried out by two reviewers. A random-effect model with a standardized mean difference and Hedges's g indices was used for conducting the meta-analysis. Subgroup analyses were conducted and a Funnel plot was used to examine publication bias. Ten studies overall were identified that fulfilled inclusion criteria, involving a total of 960 participants. The mean age of the sample was 52.8 years and majority were females. Data were heterogeneous (I(2)=67.6). Analyses suggested a publication bias based on Egger's regression (Peducating Type 2 diabetics appears to be effective on glycemic control. Further investigations on mobile applications to achieve educational goals involving other diseases are recommended. Copyright © 2014 Primary Care Diabetes Europe. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  17. The use of weekly text messaging over 6 months was a feasible method for monitoring the clinical course of low back pain in patients seeking chiropractic care

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Axen, I.; Bodin, L.; Bergstrom, G.

    2012-01-01

    Objective: This study critically evaluates a new method of collecting frequent data using mobile phones and text messages. Fluctuating conditions such as low back pain (LBP) need frequent monitoring to describe the clinical course in detail and to account for individual and subgroup variations....... Study Design and Setting: In this multicentre prospective observational study, 262 subjects with nonspecific LBP were followed with weekly text messages for 6 months, with the question "How many days this previous week has your low back pain been bothersome?" The text replies were instantly recorded...... in a data file to be merged with baseline and follow up data (age, gender, pain intensity, duration, and self- rated health) collected through ordinary questionnaires. The response rate, user-friendliness, and compliance of this method were evaluated. Results: The mean response rate for the text messages...

  18. Uptake of Tailored Text Message Smoking Cessation Support in Pregnancy When Advertised on the Internet (MiQuit): Observational Study

    OpenAIRE

    Emery, Joanne L; Coleman, Tim; Sutton, Stephen; Cooper, Sue; Leonardi-Bee, Jo; Jones, Matthew; Naughton, Felix

    2018-01-01

    Background: Smoking in pregnancy is a major public health concern. Pregnant smokers are particularly difficult to reach, with low uptake of support options and few effective interventions. Text message–based self-help is a promising, low-cost intervention for this population, but its real-world uptake is largely unknown. Objective: The objective of this study was to explore the uptake and cost-effectiveness of a tailored, theory-guided, text message intervention for pregnant smokers (“MiQuit”...

  19. The cost-effectiveness of smoking cessation support delivered by mobile phone text messaging: Txt2stop.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guerriero, Carla; Cairns, John; Roberts, Ian; Rodgers, Anthony; Whittaker, Robyn; Free, Caroline

    2013-10-01

    The txt2stop trial has shown that mobile-phone-based smoking cessation support doubles biochemically validated quitting at 6 months. This study examines the cost-effectiveness of smoking cessation support delivered by mobile phone text messaging. The lifetime incremental costs and benefits of adding text-based support to current practice are estimated from a UK NHS perspective using a Markov model. The cost-effectiveness was measured in terms of cost per quitter, cost per life year gained and cost per QALY gained. As in previous studies, smokers are assumed to face a higher risk of experiencing the following five diseases: lung cancer, stroke, myocardial infarction, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and coronary heart disease (i.e. the main fatal or disabling, but by no means the only, adverse effects of prolonged smoking). The treatment costs and health state values associated with these diseases were identified from the literature. The analysis was based on the age and gender distribution observed in the txt2stop trial. Effectiveness and cost parameters were varied in deterministic sensitivity analyses, and a probabilistic sensitivity analysis was also performed. The cost of text-based support per 1,000 enrolled smokers is £16,120, which, given an estimated 58 additional quitters at 6 months, equates to £278 per quitter. However, when the future NHS costs saved (as a result of reduced smoking) are included, text-based support would be cost saving. It is estimated that 18 LYs are gained per 1,000 smokers (0.3 LYs per quitter) receiving text-based support, and 29 QALYs are gained (0.5 QALYs per quitter). The deterministic sensitivity analysis indicated that changes in individual model parameters did not alter the conclusion that this is a cost-effective intervention. Similarly, the probabilistic sensitivity analysis indicated a >90 % chance that the intervention will be cost saving. This study shows that under a wide variety of conditions, personalised

  20. Unpacking the Black Box: A Formative Research Approach to the Development of Theory-Driven, Evidence-Based, and Culturally Safe Text Messages in Mobile Health Interventions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maar, Marion A; Yeates, Karen; Toth, Zsolt; Barron, Marcia; Boesch, Lisa; Hua-Stewart, Diane; Liu, Peter; Perkins, Nancy; Sleeth, Jessica; Wabano, Mary Jo; Williamson, Pamela; Tobe, Sheldon W

    2016-01-22

    evidence-based text message created by researchers and the message received by the recipient in mobile health interventions. These discrepancies were primarily generated by six mediators of meaning in SMS messages: (1) negative or non-affirming framing of advocacies, (2) fear- or stress-inducing content, (3) oppressive or authoritarian content, (4) incongruity with cultural and traditional practices, (5) disconnect with the reality of the social determinants of health and the diversity of cultures within a population, and (6) lack of clarity and/or practicality of content. These 6 mediators of meaning provide the basis for sound strategies for message development because they impact directly on the target populations' capability, opportunity, and motivation for behavior change. The quality of text messages impacts significantly on the effectiveness of a mobile health intervention. Our research underscores the urgent need for interventions to incorporate and evaluate the quality of SMS messages and to examine the mediators of meaning within each targeted cultural and demographic group. Reporting on this aspect of mobile health intervention research will allow researchers to move away from the current black box of SMS text message development, thus improving the transparency of the process as well as the quality of the outcomes.

  1. Survey of Instant Messaging Applications Encryption Methods

    OpenAIRE

    Kabakuş, Abdullah; Kara, Resul

    2015-01-01

    Instant messaging applications has already taken the place of traditional Short Messaging Service (SMS) and Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) due to their popularity and usage easement they provide. Users of instant messaging applications are able to send both text and audio messages, different types of attachments such as photos, videos, contact information to their contacts in real time. Because of instant messaging applications use internet instead of Short Message Service Technical Reali...

  2. A Novel Approach for Arabic Text Steganography Based on the “BloodGroup” Text Hiding Method

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. Malalla,

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available Steganography is the science of hiding certain messages (data in groups of irrelevant data possibly of other form. The purpose of steganography is covert communication to hide the existence of a message from an intermediary. Text Steganography is the process of embedding secret message (text in another text (cover text so that the existence of secret message cannot be detected by a third party. This paper presents a novel approach for text steganography using the Blood Group (BG method based on the behavior of blood group. Experimentally it is found that the proposed method got good results in capacity, hiding capacity, time complexity, robustness, visibility, and similarity which shows its superiority as compared to most several existing methods.

  3. Mobile Phones in the Classroom: Examining the Effects of Texting, Twitter, and Message Content on Student Learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kuznekoff, Jeffrey H.; Munz, Stevie; Titsworth, Scott

    2015-01-01

    This study examined mobile phone use in the classroom by using an experimental design to study how message content (related or unrelated to class lecture) and message creation (responding to or creating a message) impact student learning. Participants in eight experimental groups and a control group watched a video lecture, took notes, and…

  4. Large multi-centre pilot randomized controlled trial testing a low-cost, tailored, self-help smoking cessation text message intervention for pregnant smokers (MiQuit).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Naughton, Felix; Cooper, Sue; Foster, Katharine; Emery, Joanne; Leonardi-Bee, Jo; Sutton, Stephen; Jones, Matthew; Ussher, Michael; Whitemore, Rachel; Leighton, Matthew; Montgomery, Alan; Parrott, Steve; Coleman, Tim

    2017-07-01

    To estimate the effectiveness of pregnancy smoking cessation support delivered by short message service (SMS) text message and key parameters needed to plan a definitive trial. Multi-centre, parallel-group, single-blinded, individual randomized controlled trial. Sixteen antenatal clinics in England. Four hundred and seven participants were randomized to the intervention (n = 203) or usual care (n = 204). Eligible women were 5 pre-pregnancy), were able to receive and understand English SMS texts and were not already using text-based cessation support. All participants received a smoking cessation leaflet; intervention participants also received a 12-week programme of individually tailored, automated, interactive, self-help smoking cessation text messages (MiQuit). Seven smoking outcomes, including validated continuous abstinence from 4 weeks post-randomization until 36 weeks gestation, design parameters for a future trial and cost-per-quitter. Using the validated, continuous abstinence outcome, 5.4% (11 of 203) of MiQuit participants were abstinent versus 2.0% (four of 204) of usual care participants [odds ratio (OR) = 2.7, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.93-9.35]. The Bayes factor for this outcome was 2.23. Completeness of follow-up at 36 weeks gestation was similar in both groups; provision of self-report smoking data was 64% (MiQuit) and 65% (usual care) and abstinence validation rates were 56% (MiQuit) and 61% (usual care). The incremental cost-per-quitter was £133.53 (95% CI = -£395.78 to 843.62). There was some evidence, although not conclusive, that a text-messaging programme may increase cessation rates in pregnant smokers when provided alongside routine NHS cessation care. © 2017 The Authors. Addiction published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society for the Study of Addiction.

  5. Mobile phone text messaging to improve medication adherence in secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Adler, Alma J; Martin, Nicole; Mariani, Javier; Tajer, Carlos D; Owolabi, Onikepe O; Free, Caroline; Serrano, Norma C; Casas, Juan P; Perel, Pablo

    2017-04-29

    Worldwide at least 100 million people are thought to have prevalent cardiovascular disease (CVD). This population has a five times greater chance of suffering a recurrent cardiovascular event than people without known CVD. Secondary CVD prevention is defined as action aimed to reduce the probability of recurrence of such events. Drug interventions have been shown to be cost-effective in reducing this risk and are recommended in international guidelines. However, adherence to recommended treatments remains sub-optimal. In order to influence non-adherence, there is a need to develop scalable and cost-effective behaviour-change interventions. To assess the effects of mobile phone text messaging in patients with established arterial occlusive events on adherence to treatment, fatal and non-fatal cardiovascular events, and adverse effects. We searched CENTRAL, MEDLINE, Embase, the Conference Proceedings Citation Index - Science on Web of Science on 7 November 2016, and two clinical trial registers on 12 November 2016. We contacted authors of included studies for missing information and searched reference lists of relevant papers. We applied no language or date restrictions. We included randomised trials with at least 50% of the participants with established arterial occlusive events. We included trials investigating interventions using short message service (SMS) or multimedia messaging service (MMS) with the aim to improve adherence to medication for the secondary prevention of cardiovascular events. Eligible comparators were no intervention or other modes of communication. We used standard methodological procedures expected by Cochrane. In addition, we attempted to contact all authors on how the SMS were developed. We included seven trials (reported in 13 reports) with 1310 participants randomised. Follow-up ranged from one month to 12 months. Due to heterogeneity in the methods, population and outcome measures, we were unable to conduct meta-analysis on these studies

  6. mHealth Series: Text messaging data collection of infant and young child feeding practice in rural China – A feasibility study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xiaozhen Du

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available Face–to–face interviews by trained field workers are commonly used in household surveys. However, this data collection method is labor–intensive, time–consuming, expensive, prone to interviewer and recall bias and not easily scalable to increase sample representativeness. The study explored the feasibility of using text messaging to collect information on infant and young child feeding practice in rural China.

  7. Correlates of Healthy Lifestyle Beliefs and Behaviors in Parents of Overweight or Obese Preschool Children Before and After a Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Intervention With Text Messaging.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Militello, Lisa K; Melnyk, Bernadette Mazurek; Hekler, Eric; Small, Leigh; Jacobson, Diana

    2016-01-01

    Significant gaps exist in the published literature regarding the treatment of overweight/obesity in preschool-aged children, especially in primary care settings. Parental influence plays an important factor in the development of healthy behaviors in children, yet there is no consensus about why some behavior change intervention strategies for parents of young children are more influential and effective than others. The purpose of this secondary data analysis was to assess correlations among the study variables (healthy lifestyle beliefs, perceived difficulty, and healthy lifestyle behaviors) in parents of overweight/obese preschool children. A second aim explored if the parent's level of cognitive beliefs and perceived difficulty of engaging in healthy lifestyle behaviors correlated with text messaging cognitive behavioral support. Fifteen preschool-parent dyads from primary care clinics completed a 7-week cognitive behavioral skills building intervention. Beck's Cognitive Theory guided the intervention content, and Fogg's Behavior Model guided the implementation. The intervention was delivered using a combination of face-to-face clinic visits and ecological momentary interventions using text messaging. Supported are the interconnected relationships among the study variables, that is, parental healthy lifestyle beliefs, thoughts, and behaviors. At baseline, parental healthy lifestyle belief scores significantly correlated with perceived difficulty (rs = 0.598, p behaviors (rs = 0.545, p cognitive behavioral skills building and tailored text messaging, the need for general support via text messaging lessened, warranting additional research. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  8. Overuse and traumatic extremity injuries in schoolchildren surveyed with weekly text messages over 2.5 years

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jespersen, E; Holst, R; Franz, C

    2014-01-01

    phone text message asking questions on the presence of any musculo-skeletal problems and participation in leisure-time sport. Children were examined and injuries classified as overuse or traumatic. The overall injury incidence and prevalence were 1.2% and 4.6% per week, with 2.5 times more overuse than...... traumatic injuries in lower extremities, and mean injury duration of 5.3 and 4.8 weeks, respectively. A reverse pattern was found for upper extremities, with 3.1 times more traumatic than overuse injuries and mean durations of 3.3 and 5.2 weeks, respectively. Grade level, school type, leisure-time sport...

  9. 48 CFR 52.223-18 - Contractor Policy to Ban Text Messaging While Driving.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ...-mailing, instant messaging, obtaining navigational information, or engaging in any other form of electronic data retrieval or electronic data communication. The term does not include glancing at or...

  10. Effectiveness of Short Message Service Text-Based Smoking Cessation Intervention Among University Students: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Müssener, Ulrika; Bendtsen, Marcus; Karlsson, Nadine; White, Ian R; McCambridge, Jim; Bendtsen, Preben

    2016-03-01

    Smoking is globally the most important preventable cause of ill health and death. Mobile telephone interventions and, in particular, short message service (SMS) text messaging, have the potential to overcome access barriers to traditional health services, not least among young people. To determine the effectiveness of a text-based smoking cessation intervention among young people. A single-blind, 2-arm, randomized clinical trial (Nicotine Exit [NEXit]) was conducted from October 23, 2014, to April 17, 2015; data analysis was performed from April 23, 2014, to May 22, 2015. Participants included daily or weekly smokers willing to set a quit date within 1 month of enrollment. The study used email to invite all college and university students throughout Sweden to participate. The NEXit core program is initiated with a 1- to 4-week motivational phase during which participants can choose to set a stop date. The intervention group then received 157 text messages based on components of effective smoking cessation interventions for 12 weeks. The control group received 1 text every 2 weeks thanking them for participating in the study, with delayed access to the intervention. The primary outcomes were self-reported prolonged abstinence (not having smoked >5 cigarettes over the past 8 weeks) and 4-week point prevalence of complete smoking cessation shortly after the completion of the intervention (approximately 4 months after the quit date). A total of 1590 participants, mainly between 21 and 30 years of age, were randomized into the study; 827 (573 [69.3%] women) were allocated to the intervention group and 763 (522 [68.4%] women) were included in the control group. Primary outcome data were available for 783 (94.7%) of the intervention group and 719 (94.2%) of the control group. At baseline, participants were smoking a median (range) of 63 (1-238) and 70 (2-280) cigarettes per week, respectively. Eight-week prolonged abstinence was reported by 203 participants (25.9%) in the

  11. A feasibility study of mobile phone text messaging to support education and management of type 2 diabetes in Iraq.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haddad, Nazar S; Istepanian, Robert; Philip, Nada; Khazaal, Faris A K; Hamdan, Thamer A; Pickles, Timothy; Amso, Nazar; Gregory, John W

    2014-07-01

    We undertook a feasibility study to evaluate feasibility and utility of short message services (SMSs) to support Iraqi adults with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes. Fifty patients from a teaching hospital clinic in Basrah in the first year after diagnosis were recruited to receive weekly SMSs relating to diabetes self-management over 29 weeks. Numbers of messages received, acceptability, cost, effect on glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), and diabetes knowledge were documented. Forty-two patients completed the study, receiving an average 22 of 28 messages. Mean knowledge score rose from 8.6 (SD 1.5) at baseline to 9.9 (SD 1.4) 6 months after receipt of SMSs (P=0.002). Baseline and 6-month knowledge scores correlated (r=0.297, P=0.049). Mean baseline HbA1c was 79 mmol/mol (SD 14 mmol/mol) (9.3% [SD 1.3%]) and decreased to 70 mmol/mol (SD 13 mmol/mol) (8.6% [SD 1.2%]) (P=0.001) 6 months after the SMS intervention. Baseline and 6-month values were correlated (r=0.898, P=0.001). Age, gender, and educational level showed no association with changes in HbA1c or knowledge score. Changes in knowledge score were correlated with postintervention HbA1c (r=-0.341, P=0.027). All patients were satisfied with text messages and wished the service to be continued after the study. The cost of SMSs was €0.065 per message. This study demonstrates SMSs are acceptable, cost-effective, and feasible in supporting diabetes care in the challenging, resource-poor environment of modern-day Iraq. This study is the first in Iraq to demonstrate similar benefits of this technology on diabetes education and management to those seen from its use in better-resourced parts of the world. A randomized controlled trial is needed to assess precise benefits on self-care and knowledge.

  12. Text Messaging Improves Participation in Laboratory Testing in Adolescent Liver Transplant Patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McKenzie, Rebecca B; Berquist, William E; Foley, Megan A; Park, K T; Windsheimer, Jered E; Litt, Iris F

    In solid organ transplant patients, non-participation in all aspects of the medical regimen is a prevalent problem associated with adverse consequences particularly in the adolescent and young adult (AYA) age group. This study is the first to evaluate the feasibility, utility and impact of a text messaging (TM) intervention to improve participation in laboratory testing in adolescent liver transplant patients. AYA patients, aged 12 to 21 years, were recruited for a prospective pilot trial evaluating a TM intervention delivered over a 1-year period. The intervention involved automated TM reminders with feedback administered according to a prescribed laboratory testing frequency. Participation rate in laboratory testing after the intervention was compared to the year prior. Patient responses and feedback by text and survey were used to assess feasibility, acceptability and use of the intervention. Forty-two patients were recruited and 33 patients remained enrolled for the study duration. Recipients of the TM intervention demonstrated a significant improvement in participation rate in laboratory testing from 58% to 78% (Prate was also significantly higher than in non-intervention controls (P=.003). There was a high acceptability, response rate and a significant correlation with reported versus actual completion of laboratory tests by TM. TM reminders significantly improved participation in laboratory testing in AYA liver transplant patients. The intervention demonstrated feasibility, acceptability, and use with a high proportion of patients who engaged in and perceived a benefit from using this technology.

  13. Prevalence of pain-free weeks in chiropractic subjects with low back pain - a longitudinal study using data gathered with text messages

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lemeunier, Nadege; Kongsted, Alice; Axen, Iben

    2011-01-01

    ABSTRACT: INTRODUCTION: The use of automated text messages has made it possible to identify different courses of low back pain (LBP), and it has been observed that pain often fluctuates and that absolute recovery is rather rare. The purpose of this study was to describe the prevalence of pain-fre...

  14. Using mobile phone text messages to improve insulin injection technique and glycaemic control in patients with diabetes mellitus: a multi-centre study in Turkey.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Celik, Selda; Cosansu, Gulhan; Erdogan, Semra; Kahraman, Alev; Isik, Sengul; Bayrak, Gulay; Bektas, Belgin; Olgun, Nermin

    2015-06-01

    To improve the knowledge and skills of diabetic patients on insulin injections using mobile phone short message services and to evaluate the association of this intervention with metabolic outcomes. Mobile communication technologies are widely used in Turkey, which maintains a diabetic population of more than 6·5 million. However, there are a limited number of studies using mobile technologies in the challenging and complicated management of diabetes. A one group pretest-posttest design was used in this study. The study sample consisted of 221 people with type 1 and type 2 Diabetes Mellitus from eight outpatient clinics in six cities in Turkey. The 'Demographic and diabetes-related information Form' and 'Insulin Injection Technique and Knowledge Form' were used in the initial interview. Subsequently, 12 short messages related to insulin administration were sent to patients twice a week for six months. Each patient's level of knowledge and skills regarding both the insulin injection technique and glycaemic control (glycated haemoglobin A1c) levels were measured at three months and six months during the text messaging period and six months later (12 months total) when text messaging was stopped. The mean age of the patients with diabetes was 39·8 ± 16·2 years (min: 18; max: 75). More than half of the patients were females with a mean duration of diabetes of 11·01 ± 7·22 years (min 1; max: 32). Following the text message reminders, the patients' level of knowledge and skills regarding the insulin injection technique improved at month 3 and 6 (p 12 compared to the baseline values (p insulin injection sites and the frequency of rotation of skin sites for insulin injections also increased. This study demonstrated that a short message services-based information and reminder system on insulin injection administration provided to insulin-dependent patients with diabetes by nurses resulted in improved self-administration of insulin and metabolic control

  15. Text messages to increase attendance to follow-up cervical cancer screening appointments among HPV-positive Tanzanian women (Connected2Care)

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Linde, Ditte S; Andersen, Marianne S; Mwaiselage, Julius D

    2017-01-01

    Background: Cervical cancer is a major health concern in Tanzania, caused by poor attendance for cervical cancer screening and follow-up of women at risk. Mobile telephone health interventions are proven effective tools to improve health behaviour in African countries. So far, no knowledge exists...... on how such interventions may perform in relation to cervical cancer screening in low-income settings. This study aims to assess the degree to which a Short Message Service (SMS) intervention can increase attendance at appointments among women who have tested positive for High-Risk (HR) Human Papiloma...... (standard care). In a period of 10 months, the intervention group will receive 15 one-directional health educative text messages and SMS-reminders for their appointment. The total sample size will be 700 with 350 women in each study arm. Primary outcome is attendance rate for follow-up. Secondary objectives...

  16. Crafting a Real-Time Information Aggregator for Mobile Messaging

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jenq-Shiou Leu

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available Mobile messaging is evolving beyond SMS (Short Message Service text messaging with the introduction of MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service. In the past, such a scheme is used for peer-to-peer communication. Messages are generally displayed on a cellular phone with a limited-sized screen. However, such a visualizing process is not suitable to broadcast real-time SMS/MMS messages to people in public. To facilitate the instancy and publicity, we develop a real-time information aggregator—Visualizing SMS and MMS Messages System (VSMMS—to realize the concept by integrating SMS and MMS messaging over GSM/GPRS/UMTS onto a remote display device. The device exhibits messages on a larger display device in public. VSMMS features a revolutionized variation of mass media broadcasting. In this paper, we practically illustrate how to design and implement VSMMS and use a M/M/1 model to conduct a theoretical analysis about the message delay in the system queue. Meanwhile, we make an empirical performance evaluation about the message transmission time over different networks.

  17. Toward Predicting Popularity of Social Marketing Messages

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yu, Bei; Chen, Miao; Kwok, Linchi

    Popularity of social marketing messages indicates the effectiveness of the corresponding marketing strategies. This research aims to discover the characteristics of social marketing messages that contribute to different level of popularity. Using messages posted by a sample of restaurants on Facebook as a case study, we measured the message popularity by the number of "likes" voted by fans, and examined the relationship between the message popularity and two properties of the messages: (1) content, and (2) media type. Combining a number of text mining and statistics methods, we have discovered some interesting patterns correlated to "more popular" and "less popular" social marketing messages. This work lays foundation for building computational models to predict the popularity of social marketing messages in the future.

  18. Print versus a culturally-relevant Facebook and text message delivered intervention to promote physical activity in African American women: a randomized pilot trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Joseph, Rodney P; Keller, Colleen; Adams, Marc A; Ainsworth, Barbara E

    2015-03-27

    African American women report insufficient physical activity and are disproportionally burdened by associated disease conditions; indicating the need for innovative approaches to promote physical activity in this underserved population. Social media platforms (i.e. Facebook) and text messaging represent potential mediums to promote physical activity. This paper reports the results of a randomized pilot trial evaluating a theory-based (Social Cognitive Theory) multi-component intervention using Facebook and text-messages to promote physical activity among African American women. Participants (N = 29) were randomly assigned to receive one of two multi-component physical activity interventions over 8 weeks: a culturally-relevant, Social Cognitive Theory-based, intervention delivered by Facebook and text message (FI) (n = 14), or a non-culturally tailored print-based intervention (PI) (n = 15) consisting of promotion brochures mailed to their home. The primary outcome of physical activity was assessed by ActiGraph GT3X+ accelerometers. Secondary outcomes included self-reported physical activity, physical activity-related psychosocial variables, and participant satisfaction. All randomized participants (N = 29) completed the study. Accelerometer measured physical activity showed that FI participants decreased sedentary time (FI = -74 minutes/week vs. PI = +118 minute/week) and increased light intensity (FI = +95 minutes/week vs. PI = +59 minutes/week) and moderate-lifestyle intensity physical activity (FI = + 27 minutes/week vs. PI = -34 minutes/week) in comparison to PI participants (all P's  .05). Results of secondary outcomes showed that in comparison to the PI, FI participants self-reported greater increases in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (FI = +62 minutes/week vs. PI = +6 minutes/week; P = .015) and had greater enhancements in self-regulation for physical activity (P program to a friend

  19. Effect of a text messaging intervention on influenza vaccination in an urban, low-income pediatric and adolescent population: a randomized controlled trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stockwell, Melissa S; Kharbanda, Elyse Olshen; Martinez, Raquel Andres; Vargas, Celibell Y; Vawdrey, David K; Camargo, Stewin

    2012-04-25

    Influenza infection results in substantial costs, morbidity, and mortality. Vaccination against influenza is particularly important in children and adolescents who are a significant source of transmission to other high-risk populations, yet pediatric and adolescent vaccine coverage remains low. Traditional vaccine reminders have had a limited effect on low-income populations; however, text messaging is a novel, scalable approach to promote influenza vaccination. To evaluate targeted text message reminders for low-income, urban parents to promote receipt of influenza vaccination among children and adolescents. Randomized controlled trial of 9213 children and adolescents aged 6 months to 18 years receiving care at 4 community-based clinics in the United States during the 2010-2011 influenza season. Of the 9213 children and adolescents, 7574 had not received influenza vaccine prior to the intervention start date and were included in the primary analysis. Parents of children assigned to the intervention received up to 5 weekly immunization registry-linked text messages providing educational information and instructions regarding Saturday clinics. Both the intervention and usual care groups received the usual care, an automated telephone reminder, and access to informational flyers posted at the study sites. Receipt of an influenza vaccine dose recorded in the immunization registry via an electronic health record by March 31, 2011. Receipt was secondarily assessed at an earlier fall review date prior to typical widespread influenza activity. Study children and adolescents were primarily minority, 88% were publicly insured, and 58% were from Spanish-speaking families. As of March 31, 2011, a higher proportion of children and adolescents in the intervention group (43.6%; n = 1653) compared with the usual care group (39.9%; n = 1509) had received influenza vaccine (difference, 3.7% [95% CI, 1.5%-5.9%]; relative rate ratio [RRR], 1.09 [95% CI, 1.04-1.15]; P = .001). At the

  20. Mobile phone text messaging and Telephone follow-up in type 2 diabetic patients for 3 months: a comparative study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zolfaghari Mirta

    2012-08-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background To investigate and to compare the effectiveness of a nurse short message service (SMS by cellular phone and telephone follow-up by nurse on Glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c levels in people with type 2 diabetes. Methods Semi experimental study consisted of 77 patients with type 2 diabetes that randomly assigned to two groups: telephone follow-up (n = 39 and short message service (n = 38. Telephone interventions were applied by researcher for 3 months. SMS group that received message daily for 12 weeks. Data gathering instrument include data sheet to record HbA1c and questionnaire that consisted of demographic characteristics. Data gathering was performed at two points: initial the study and after 12 weeks. Data analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics methods with SPSS version 11.5. Results Demographic variables were compared and all of them were homogenous. Results of this study showed that both interventions had significant mean changes in HbA1c; for the telephone group (p = 0.001, with a mean change of −0.93% and for the SMS group (p = 0.001, with a mean change of −1.01%. Conclusion Finding of this research showed that intervention using SMS via cellular phone and nurse-led-telephone follow up improved HbA1c for three months in type 2 diabetic patients and it can consider as alternative methods for diabetes control.

  1. An Examination of Adolescent Recall of Anti-Smoking Messages: Attitudes, Message Type, and Message Perceptions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bigsby, Elisabeth; Monahan, Jennifer L; Ewoldsen, David R

    2017-04-01

    Delayed message recall may be influenced by currently held accessible attitudes, the nature of the message, and message perceptions (perception of bias and message elaboration). This study examined the potential of message perceptions to mediate the influence of valenced attitude accessibility and message type on unaided recall of anti-smoking Public Service Announcements (PSAs). In a field experiment, ninth grade students (N = 244) watched three PSAs and responded to items on laptop computers. Twelve weeks later, follow-up telephone surveys were conducted to assess unaided recall. Both valenced attitude accessibility and message type were associated with message perceptions. However, only perception of message bias partially mediated the relationship between message type and unaided recall.

  2. The impact of health education transmitted via social media or text messaging on adolescent and young adult risky sexual behavior: a systematic review of the literature.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jones, Krista; Eathington, Patricia; Baldwin, Kathleen; Sipsma, Heather

    2014-07-01

    Despite the increased use of social media and text messaging among adolescents, it is unclear how effective education transmitted via these mechanisms is for reducing sexual risk behavior. Accordingly, we conducted a systematic review of the literature to examine the effectiveness of social media and text messaging interventions designed to increase sexually transmitted disease (STD) knowledge, increase screening/testing, decrease risky sexual behaviors, and reduce the incidence of STDs among young adults aged 15 through 24 years. Eleven studies met our inclusion criteria. Most of the included studies used a control group to explore intervention effects and included both young men and women. Sample sizes ranged from 32 to 7606 participants, and follow-up periods ranged between 4 weeks and 12 months. These studies provide preliminary evidence indicating that social media and text messaging can increase knowledge regarding the prevention of STDs. These interventions may also affect behavior, such as screening/testing for STDs, sexual risk behaviors, and STD acquisition, but the evidence for effect is weak. Many of these studies had several limitations that future research should address, including a reliance on self-reported data, small sample sizes, poor retention, low generalizability, and low analytic rigor. Additional research is needed to determine the most effective and engaging approaches for young men and women.

  3. Lol: New Language and Spelling in Instant Messaging

    Science.gov (United States)

    Varnhagen, Connie K.; McFall, G. Peggy; Pugh, Nicole; Routledge, Lisa; Sumida-MacDonald, Heather; Kwong, Trudy E.

    2010-01-01

    Written communication in instant messaging, text messaging, chat, and other forms of electronic communication appears to have generated a "new language" of abbreviations, acronyms, word combinations, and punctuation. In this naturalistic study, adolescents collected their instant messaging conversations for a 1-week period and then completed a…

  4. Community Alert: Using Text Messaging and Social Media to Improve Campus Emergency Planning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Connolly, Maureen

    2014-01-01

    This article describes emergency management and the part that social media technologies and mobile messaging have made when they are included as part of the campus emergency plan. Administrators have found that ample notification and preparedness must be built into campus communication systems. Social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook…

  5. Electronic messaging and communication with living kidney donors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ruck, Jessica M; Zhou, Sheng; Thomas, Alvin G; Cramm, Shannon L; Massie, Allan B; Montgomery, John R; Berger, Jonathan C; Henderson, Macey L; Segev, Dorry L

    2018-02-01

    New regulations require living kidney donor (LKD) follow-up for 2 years, but donor retention remains poor. Electronic communication (eg, text messaging and e-mail) might improve donor retention. To explore the possible impact of electronic communication, we recruited LKDs to participate in an exploratory study of communication via telephone, e-mail, or text messaging postdonation; communication through this study was purely optional and did not replace standard follow-up. Of 69 LKDs recruited, 3% requested telephone call, 52% e-mail, and 45% text messaging. Telephone response rate was 0%; these LKDs were subsequently excluded from analysis. Overall response rates with e-mail or text messaging at 1 week, 1 month, 6 months, 1 year, and 2 years were 94%, 87%, 81%, 72%, and 72%. Lower response rates were seen in African Americans, even after adjusting for age, sex, and contact method (incidence rate ratio (IRR) nonresponse 2.07 5.81 16.36 , P = .001). Text messaging had higher response rates than e-mail (IRR nonresponse 0.11 0.28 0.71 , P = .007). Rates of nonresponse were similar by sex (IRR 0.68, P = .4) and age (IRR 1.00, P > .9). In summary, LKDs strongly preferred electronic messaging over telephone and were highly responsive 2 years postdonation, even in this nonrequired, nonincentivized exploratory research study. These electronic communication tools can be automated and may improve regulatory compliance and postdonation care. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  6. Back pain in children surveyed with weekly text messages - a 2.5 year prospective school cohort study

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Franz, Claudia; Wedderkopp, Niels; Jespersen, Eva

    2014-01-01

    BACKGROUND: Back pain is reported to occur already in childhood, but its development at that age is not well understood. The aims of this study were to describe BP in children aged 6-12 years, and to investigate any sex and age differences. METHODS: Data on back pain (defined as pain in the neck......, mid back and/or lower back) were collected once a week from parents replying to automated text-messages over 2.5 school years from 2008 till 2011. The prevalence estimates were presented as percentages and 95% confidence intervals. Differences between estimates were considered significant...

  7. Text Messaging, Teen Outreach Program, and Sexual Health Behavior: A Cluster Randomized Trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bull, Sheana; Devine, Sharon; Schmiege, Sarah J; Pickard, Leslie; Campbell, Jon; Shlay, Judith C

    2016-09-01

    To consider whether Youth All Engaged! (a text message intervention) intensified the effects of the adolescent pregnancy prevention Teen Outreach Program (control) for youths. In this trial performed in Denver, Colorado, from 2011 to 2014, we randomized 8 Boys & Girls Clubs each of 4 years into 32 clubs per year combinations to ensure each club would serve as a treatment site for 2 years and a control site for 2 years. Control intervention consisted of the Teen Outreach Program only. We enrolled 852 youths (aged 14-18 years), and 632 were retained at follow-up, with analytic samples ranging from 50 to 624 across outcomes. We examined program costs, and whether the intervention increased condom and contraceptive use, access to care, and pregnancy prevention. Control program costs were $1184 per participant, and intervention costs were an additional $126 per participant (+10.6%). There were no statistically significant differences in primary outcomes for the full sample. Hispanic participants in the intervention condition had fewer pregnancies at follow-up (1.79%) than did those in the control group (6.72%; P = .02). Youth All Engaged is feasible, low cost, and could have potential benefits for Hispanic youths.

  8. Driver memory for in-vehicle visual and auditory messages

    Science.gov (United States)

    1999-12-01

    Three experiments were conducted in a driving simulator to evaluate effects of in-vehicle message modality and message format on comprehension and memory for younger and older drivers. Visual icons and text messages were effective in terms of high co...

  9. Hooked on a feeling: Affective anti-smoking messages are more effective than cognitive messages at changing implicit evaluations of smoking

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Colin Tucker Smith

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available Because implicit evaluations are thought to underlie many aspects of behavior, researchers have started looking for ways to change them. We examine whether and when persuasive messages alter strongly-held implicit evaluations of smoking. In smokers, an affective anti-smoking message led to more negative implicit evaluations on four different implicit measures as compared to a cognitive anti-smoking message which seemed to backfire. Additional analyses suggested that the observed effects were mediated by the feelings and emotions raised by the messages. In non-smokers, both the affective and cognitive message engendered slightly more negative implicit evaluations. We conclude that persuasive messages change implicit evaluations in a way that depends on properties of the message and of the participant. Thus, our data open new avenues for research directed at tailoring persuasive messages to change implicit evaluations.

  10. Popular Mobilization Messaging

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    James Garrison

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available This Research Paper examines the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Unit’s (PMU messaging on the organisation’s website and social media platforms through early January 2017 to develop a more nuanced understanding of the PMU’s outlook, both present and future. After providing an overview of the PMU’s media presence online, the paper discusses how the organisation promotes its core narrative: that it is a cross-confessional and patriotic force for the defence of all Iraqis against a brutal and evil IS. The paper then addresses the PMU’s use of messaging to refute the sectarian portrayal of the organisation in some quarters before turning to the way the PMU approaches regional and international states in its media. Finally, the paper summarises the PMU’s messaging strategy and discusses how this strategy implies a less threatening future for the organisation than is often anticipated.

  11. Benefits and Limitations of Text Messages to Stimulate Higher Learning Among Community Providers: Participants' Views of an mHealth Intervention to Support Continuing Medical Education in Vietnam.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sabin, Lora L; Larson Williams, Anna; Le, Bao Ngoc; Herman, Augusta R; Viet Nguyen, Ha; Albanese, Rebecca R; Xiong, Wenjun; Shobiye, Hezekiah Oa; Halim, Nafisa; Tran, Lien Thi Ngoc; McNabb, Marion; Hoang, Hai; Falconer, Ariel; Nguyen, Tam Thi Thanh; Gill, Christopher J

    2017-06-27

    A randomized controlled trial was conducted in 2015 to evaluate a mobile continuing medical education (mCME) intervention that provided daily text messages to community-based physicians' assistants (CBPAs) in Thai Nguyen Province, Vietnam. Although the intervention failed to improve medical knowledge over a 6-month period, a companion qualitative study provided insights on the views and experiences of intervention participants. We conducted focus group discussions (FGDs) and in-depth interviews (IDIs) among participants randomized to receive text messages containing either simple medical facts or quiz questions. Trained interviewers collected data immediately following the conclusion of the trial in December 2015. Using semi-structured question guides, respondents were queried on their views of the intervention, positive and negative, and perceived impacts of the intervention. During analysis, after learning that the intervention had failed to increase knowledge among participants, we also examined reasons for lack of improvement in medical knowledge. All analyses were performed in NVivo using a thematic approach. A total of 70 CBPAs engaged in one of 8 FGDs or an IDI. One-half were men; average age among all respondents was 40 years. Most (81%) practiced in rural settings and most (51%) focused on general medicine. The mean length of work experience was 3 years. All respondents made positive comments about the intervention; convenience, relevance, and quick feedback (quiz format) were praised. Downsides encompassed lack of depth of information, weak interaction, technology challenges, and challenging/irrelevant messages. Respondents described perceived impacts encompassing increased motivation, knowledge, collegial discussions, Internet use to search for more information, and clinical skills. Overall, they expressed a desire for the intervention to continue and recommended expansion to other medical professionals. Overreliance on the text messages, lack of

  12. Scoping review and evaluation of SMS/text messaging platforms for mHealth projects or clinical interventions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Iribarren, Sarah J; Brown, William; Giguere, Rebecca; Stone, Patricia; Schnall, Rebecca; Staggers, Nancy; Carballo-Diéguez, Alex

    2017-05-01

    Mobile technology supporting text messaging interventions (TMIs) continues to evolve, presenting challenges for researchers and healthcare professionals who need to choose software solutions to best meet their program needs. The objective of this review was to systematically identify and compare text messaging platforms and to summarize their advantages and disadvantages as described in peer-reviewed literature. A scoping review was conducted using four steps: 1) identify currently available platforms through online searches and in mHealth repositories; 2) expand evaluation criteria of an mHealth mobile messaging toolkit and integrate prior user experiences as researchers; 3) evaluate each platform's functions and features based on the expanded criteria and a vendor survey; and 4) assess the documentation of platform use in the peer-review literature. Platforms meeting inclusion criteria were assessed independently by three reviewers and discussed until consensus was reached. The PRISMA guidelines were followed to report findings. Of the 1041 potentially relevant search results, 27 platforms met inclusion criteria. Most were excluded because they were not platforms (e.g., guides, toolkits, reports, or SMS gateways). Of the 27 platforms, only 12 were identified in existing mHealth repositories, 10 from Google searches, while five were found in both. The expanded evaluation criteria included 22 items. Results indicate no uniform presentation of platform features and functions, often making these difficult to discern. Fourteen of the platforms were reported as open source, 10 focused on health care and 16 were tailored to meet needs of low resource settings (not mutually exclusive). Fifteen platforms had do-it-yourself setup (programming not required) while the remainder required coding/programming skills or setups could be built to specification by the vendor. Frequently described features included data security and access to the platform via cloud-based systems. Pay

  13. Using SMS Text Messaging to Assess Moderators of Smoking Reduction: Validating a New Tool for Ecological Measurement of Health Behaviors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berkman, Elliot T.; Dickenson, Janna; Falk, Emily B.; Lieberman, Matthew D.

    2011-01-01

    Objective Understanding the psychological processes that contribute to smoking reduction will yield population health benefits. Negative mood may moderate smoking lapse during cessation, but this relationship has been difficult to measure in ongoing daily experience. We used a novel form of ecological momentary assessment to test a self-control model of negative mood and craving leading to smoking lapse. Design We validated short message service (SMS) text as a user-friendly and low-cost option for ecologically measuring real-time health behaviors. We sent text messages to cigarette smokers attempting to quit eight times daily for the first 21 days of cessation (N-obs = 3,811). Main outcome measures Approximately every two hours, we assessed cigarette count, mood, and cravings, and examined between- and within-day patterns and time-lagged relationships among these variables. Exhaled carbon monoxide was assessed pre- and posttreatment. Results Negative mood and craving predicted smoking two hours later, but craving mediated the mood–smoking relationship. Also, this mediation relationship predicted smoking over the next two, but not four, hours. Conclusion Results clarify conflicting previous findings on the relation between affect and smoking, validate a new low-cost and user-friendly method for collecting fine-grained health behavior assessments, and emphasize the importance of rapid, real-time measurement of smoking moderators. PMID:21401252

  14. Mobile phone messaging reminders for attendance at healthcare appointments.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Car, Josip; Gurol-Urganci, Ipek; de Jongh, Thyra; Vodopivec-Jamsek, Vlasta; Atun, Rifat

    2012-07-11

    studies against the inclusion criteria, with any disagreements resolved by a third review author. Study design features, characteristics of target populations, interventions and controls, and results data were extracted by two review authors and confirmed by a third author. Primary outcomes of interest were rate of attendance at healthcare appointments. We also considered health outcomes as a result of the intervention, patients' and providers' evaluation of the intervention, perceptions of safety, costs, and potential harms or adverse effects. As the intervention characteristics and outcome measures were similar across included studies, we conducted a meta-analysis to estimate an overall effect size. We included four randomised controlled trials involving 3547 participants. Three studies with moderate quality evidence showed that mobile text message reminders improved the rate of attendance at healthcare appointments compared to no reminders (risk ratio (RR) 1.10 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.03 to 1.17)). One low quality study reported that mobile text message reminders with postal reminders, compared to postal reminders, improved rate of attendance at healthcare appointments (RR 1.10 (95% CI 1.02 to 1.19)). However, two studies with moderate quality of evidence showed that mobile phone text message reminders and phone call reminders had a similar impact on healthcare attendance (RR 0.99 (95% CI 0.95 to 1.03). The costs per attendance of mobile phone text message reminders were shown to be lower compared to phone call reminders. None of the included studies reported outcomes related to harms or adverse effects of the intervention, nor health outcomes or user perception of safety related to the intervention. There is moderate quality evidence that mobile phone text message reminders are more effective than no reminders, and low quality evidence that text message reminders with postal reminders are more effective than postal reminders alone. Further, according to the

  15. (In-)Secure messaging with the Silent Circle instant messaging protocol

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Verschoor, S.R.; Lange, T.

    2016-01-01

    Silent Text, the instant messaging application by the company Silent Circle, provides its users with end-to-end encrypted communication on the Blackphone and other smartphones. The underlying protocol, SCimp, has received many extensions during the update to version 2, but has not been subjected to

  16. A Mobile Text Message Intervention to Reduce Repeat Suicidal Episodes: Design and Development of Reconnecting After a Suicide Attempt (RAFT).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Larsen, Mark Erik; Shand, Fiona; Morley, Kirsten; Batterham, Philip J; Petrie, Katherine; Reda, Bill; Berrouiguet, Sofian; Haber, Paul S; Carter, Gregory; Christensen, Helen

    2017-12-13

    Suicide is a leading cause of death, particularly among young people. Continuity of care following discharge from hospital is critical, yet this is a time when individuals often lose contact with health care services. Offline brief contact interventions following a suicide attempt can reduce the number of repeat attempts, and text message (short message service, SMS) interventions are currently being evaluated. The aim of this study was to extend postattempt caring contacts by designing a brief Web-based intervention targeting proximal risk factors and the needs of this population during the postattempt period. This paper details the development process and describes the realized system. To inform the design of the intervention, a lived experience design group was established. Participants were asked about their experiences of support following their suicide attempt, their needs during this time, and how these could be addressed in a brief contact eHealth intervention. The intervention design was also informed by consultation with lived experience panels external to the project and a clinical design group. Prompt outreach following discharge, initial distraction activities with low cognitive demands, and ongoing support over an extended period were identified as structural requirements of the intervention. Key content areas identified included coping with distressing feelings, safety planning, emotional regulation and acceptance, coping with suicidal thoughts, connecting with others and interpersonal relationships, and managing alcohol consumption. The RAFT (Reconnecting AFTer a suicide attempt) text message brief contact intervention combines SMS contacts with additional Web-based brief therapeutic content targeting key risk factors. It has the potential to reduce the number of repeat suicidal episodes and to provide accessible, acceptable, and cost-effective support for individuals who may not otherwise seek face-to-face treatment. A pilot study to test the

  17. Connecting Health and Technology (CHAT: protocol of a randomized controlled trial to improve nutrition behaviours using mobile devices and tailored text messaging in young adults

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kerr Deborah A

    2012-06-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Increasing intakes of fruits and vegetables intake, in tandem with reducing consumption of energy-dense and nutrient poor foods and beverages are dietary priorities to prevent chronic disease. Although most adults do not eat enough fruit and vegetables, teenagers and young adults tend to have the lowest intakes. Young adults typically consume a diet which is inconsistent with the dietary recommendations. Yet little is known about the best approaches to improve dietary intakes and behaviours among this group. This randomised controlled trial aims to evaluate the effectiveness of using a mobile device to assess dietary intake, provide tailored dietary feedback and text messages to motivate changes in fruit, vegetable and junk food consumption among young adults. Methods/design The CHAT project will involve the development of the mobile device food record (MDFR, and evaluation of dietary feedback and implementation of a 6-month intervention in young adults aged 18 to 30 years. The participants will be randomly assigned to one of three groups (1 Intervention Group 1: MDFR + Text Messages + Dietary Feedback; (2 Intervention Group 2: MDFR + Dietary Feedback; (3 Control Group 3: MDFR, no feedback. All groups will undertake a 3-day dietary record using the MDFR but only the Intervention Groups 1 and 2 will receive tailored dietary feedback at baseline and at 6-months which will consist of assessment of serves of fruits, vegetables and junk food in comparison to dietary recommendations. Tailored nutrition text messages will be sent to Intervention Group 1 over the 6 months. Data will be collected at baseline and again at the 6-month completion. Discussion This trial will test if applications running on mobile devices have potential to assess diet, provide tailored feedback and nutrition messages as an effective way of improving fruit and vegetable consumption and reducing energy-dense nutrient poor foods in young adults. The CHAT

  18. Effect of an interactive text-messaging service on patient retention during the first year of HIV care in Kenya (WelTel Retain): an open-label, randomised parallel-group study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van der Kop, Mia Liisa; Muhula, Samuel; Nagide, Patrick I; Thabane, Lehana; Gelmon, Lawrence; Awiti, Patricia Opondo; Abunah, Bonface; Kyomuhangi, Lennie Bazira; Budd, Matthew A; Marra, Carlo; Patel, Anik; Karanja, Sarah; Ojakaa, David I; Mills, Edward J; Ekström, Anna Mia; Lester, Richard Todd

    2018-03-01

    Retention of patients in HIV care is crucial to ensure timely treatment initiation, viral suppression, and to avert AIDS-related deaths. We did a randomised trial to determine whether a text-messaging intervention improved retention during the first year of HIV care. This unmasked, randomised parallel-group study was done at two clinics in informal settlements in Nairobi, Kenya. Eligible participants were aged 18 years or older, HIV-positive, had their own mobile phone or access to one, and were able to use simple text messaging (or have somebody who could text message on their behalf). Participants were randomly assigned (1:1), with random block sizes of 2, 4, and 6, to the intervention or control group. Participants in the intervention group received a weekly text message from the automated WelTel service for 1 year and were asked to respond within 48 h. Participants in the control group did not receive text messages. Participants in both groups received usual care, which comprised psychosocial support and counselling; patient education; CD4 cell count; treatment; screening for tuberculosis, opportunistic infections, and sexually transmitted infections; prevention of mother-to-child transmission and family planning services; and up to two telephone calls for missed appointments. The primary outcome was retention in care at 12 months (ie, clinic attendance 10-14 months after the first visit). Participants who did not attend this 12-month appointment were traced, and we considered as retained those who were confirmed to be active in care elsewhere. The data analyst and clinic staff were masked to the group assignment, whereas participants and research nurses were not. We analysed the intention-to-treat population. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT01630304. Between April 4, 2013, and June 4, 2015, we screened 1068 individuals, of whom 700 were recruited. 349 people were allocated to the intervention group and 351 to the control group

  19. The effectiveness of telephone counselling and internet- and text-message-based support for smoking cessation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Skov-Ettrup, Lise S; Dalum, Peter; Bech, Mickael

    2016-01-01

    counselling group compared with the booklet group (7.3% vs. 3.6%, OR=2.2 (95% CI 1.2-4.0)), There was no clear evidence of a difference in prolonged abstinence between the reactive telephone counselling group or the internet-based smoking cessation program and the booklet group: 1.8% vs. 3.6%, OR=0.8 (95% CI...... 0.6-1.2) and 5.3% vs. 3.6%, OR=1.6 (95% CI 0.8-3.0) respectively. In the proactive telephone counselling group, the cost per additional 12-month quitter compared with the booklet group was £644. CONCLUSIONS: Proactive telephone counselling was more effective than a self-help booklet in achieving......AIM: To compare the effectiveness of proactive telephone counselling, reactive telephone counselling and an internet- and text messages-based intervention with a self-help booklet for smoking cessation. DESIGN: A randomised controlled trial with equal allocation to four conditions: 1) Proactive...

  20. The religious message in action - a case study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    René Gothóni

    1975-01-01

    Full Text Available We understand a religious message to be the product of a religious movement. In studying such a message, it is very much to the purpose to place it in the context in which it operates. The cultural and social context of a religious message is some religious movement. Hence, the message should be examined against that framework. Each message has a certain structure, and its detection is of prime importance. Messages are not only part of the tradition, but themselves unique in their respective communicative situations. Thus, in our view, structural analysis does not have analytical use-value unless the message's symbols are set into their communicative context. The aim of this paper is dual: On the one hand, we intend to analyze and clarify the structure of a religious message of the Laestadian movement, how the message operates, also how the members of that movement respond to the codes of the message, and what kind of functions it fulfills; on the other, to develop and test an analytical model which would combine structural and interactional analysis.

  1. Emotional Responses to Environmental Messages and Future Behavioral Intentions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Perrin, Jeffrey L.

    2011-01-01

    The present research investigated effects of message framing (losses-framed or gains-framed), message modality (video with text or text-only) and emotional arousal on environmentally responsible behavioral intentions. The sample consisted of 161 college students. The present research did not find a significant difference in behavioral intentions…

  2. A meta-analysis of the effects of texting on driving.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Caird, Jeff K; Johnston, Kate A; Willness, Chelsea R; Asbridge, Mark; Steel, Piers

    2014-10-01

    Text messaging while driving is considered dangerous and known to produce injuries and fatalities. However, the effects of text messaging on driving performance have not been synthesized or summarily estimated. All available experimental studies that measured the effects of text messaging on driving were identified through database searches using variants of "driving" and "texting" without restriction on year of publication through March 2014. Of the 1476 abstracts reviewed, 82 met general inclusion criteria. Of these, 28 studies were found to sufficiently compare reading or typing text messages while driving with a control or baseline condition. Independent variables (text-messaging tasks) were coded as typing, reading, or a combination of both. Dependent variables included eye movements, stimulus detection, reaction time, collisions, lane positioning, speed and headway. Statistics were extracted from studies to compute effect sizes (rc). A total sample of 977 participants from 28 experimental studies yielded 234 effect size estimates of the relationships among independent and dependent variables. Typing and reading text messages while driving adversely affected eye movements, stimulus detection, reaction time, collisions, lane positioning, speed and headway. Typing text messages alone produced similar decrements as typing and reading, whereas reading alone had smaller decrements over fewer dependent variables. Typing and reading text messages affects drivers' capability to adequately direct attention to the roadway, respond to important traffic events, control a vehicle within a lane and maintain speed and headway. This meta-analysis provides convergent evidence that texting compromises the safety of the driver, passengers and other road users. Combined efforts, including legislation, enforcement, blocking technologies, parent modeling, social media, social norms and education, will be required to prevent continued deaths and injuries from texting and driving

  3. Teaching Students the Persuasive Message through Small Group Activity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Creelman, Valerie

    2008-01-01

    Teaching students to write persuasive messages is a critical feature of any undergraduate business communications course. For the persuasive writing module in the author's course, students write a persuasive message on the basis of the four-part indirect pattern often used for sales or fund-raising messages. The course text she uses identifies…

  4. Evaluation of Sexual Communication Message Strategies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Khan Munziba

    2011-05-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Parent-child communication about sex is an important proximal reproductive health outcome. But while campaigns to promote it such as the Parents Speak Up National Campaign (PSUNC have been effective, little is known about how messages influence parental cognitions and behavior. This study examines which message features explain responses to sexual communication messages. We content analyzed 4 PSUNC ads to identify specific, measurable message and advertising execution features. We then develop quantitative measures of those features, including message strategies, marketing strategies, and voice and other stylistic features, and merged the resulting data into a dataset drawn from a national media tracking survey of the campaign. Finally, we conducted multivariable logistic regression models to identify relationships between message content and ad reactions/receptivity, and between ad reactions/receptivity and parents' cognitions related to sexual communication included in the campaign's conceptual model. We found that overall parents were highly receptive to the PSUNC ads. We did not find significant associations between message content and ad reactions/receptivity. However, we found that reactions/receptivity to specific PSUNC ads were associated with increased norms, self-efficacy, short- and long-term expectations about parent-child sexual communication, as theorized in the conceptual model. This study extends previous research and methods to analyze message content and reactions/receptivity. The results confirm and extend previous PSUNC campaign evaluation and provide further evidence for the conceptual model. Future research should examine additional message content features and the effects of reactions/receptivity.

  5. Text Linguistics in the Context of the Communication Sciences

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Silviu Serban

    2011-05-01

    Full Text Available This paper tries to analyse the conditions of emerging of text linguistics, taking into consideration the rootsof the preoccupations in its domain, originated in the framework of the communication studies. Thus, the change ofthe perspective on communication, from the mechanistic transmission to interactivity and the exchange of themeanings, led to the pragmatic orientation of the linguistic researches, not just to the message itself, but also to theelements of the communicative act and to the context where the exchange of the meanings takes place. As a result,text linguistics defines the text as communicational occurrence, involving both the members of the communicationand the conditions of the production and the reception of the message, unlike conventional linguistics which studiesthe text in abstracto, just the message itself, ignoring the world that the text refers to, or the users of the message, thetransmitter and the receiver.

  6. Engineered cell-cell communication via DNA messaging

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ortiz Monica E

    2012-09-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Evolution has selected for organisms that benefit from genetically encoded cell-cell communication. Engineers have begun to repurpose elements of natural communication systems to realize programmed pattern formation and coordinate other population-level behaviors. However, existing engineered systems rely on system-specific small molecules to send molecular messages among cells. Thus, the information transmission capacity of current engineered biological communication systems is physically limited by specific biomolecules that are capable of sending only a single message, typically “regulate transcription.” Results We have engineered a cell-cell communication platform using bacteriophage M13 gene products to autonomously package and deliver heterologous DNA messages of varying lengths and encoded functions. We demonstrate the decoupling of messages from a common communication channel via the autonomous transmission of various arbitrary genetic messages. Further, we increase the range of engineered DNA messaging across semisolid media by linking message transmission or receipt to active cellular chemotaxis. Conclusions We demonstrate decoupling of a communication channel from message transmission within engineered biological systems via the autonomous targeted transduction of user-specified heterologous DNA messages. We also demonstrate that bacteriophage M13 particle production and message transduction occurs among chemotactic bacteria. We use chemotaxis to improve the range of DNA messaging, increasing both transmission distance and communication bit rates relative to existing small molecule-based communication systems. We postulate that integration of different engineered cell-cell communication platforms will allow for more complex spatial programming of dynamic cellular consortia.

  7. Mobile phone messaging reminders for attendance at healthcare appointments.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gurol-Urganci, Ipek; de Jongh, Thyra; Vodopivec-Jamsek, Vlasta; Atun, Rifat; Car, Josip

    2013-12-05

    review author. Study design features, characteristics of target populations, interventions and controls, and results data were extracted by two review authors and confirmed by a third author. Two authors assessed the risk of bias of the included studies. As the intervention characteristics and outcome measures were similar across included studies, we conducted a meta-analysis to estimate an overall effect size. We included eight randomised controlled trials involving 6615 participants. Four of these studies were newly identified during this update.We found moderate quality evidence from seven studies (5841 participants) that mobile text message reminders improved the rate of attendance at healthcare appointments compared to no reminders (risk ratio (RR) 1.14 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.03 to 1.26)). There was also moderate quality evidence from three studies (2509 participants) that mobile text message reminders had a similar impact to phone call reminders (RR 0.99 (95% CI 0.95 to 1.02). Low quality evidence from one study (291 participants) suggests that mobile text message reminders combined with postal reminders improved the rate of attendance at healthcare appointments compared to postal reminders alone (RR 1.10 (95% CI 1.02 to 1.19)). Overall, the attendance to appointment rates were 67.8% for the no reminders group, 78.6% for the mobile phone messaging reminders group and 80.3% for the phone call reminders group. One study reported generally that there were no adverse effects during the study period; none of the studies reported in detail on specific adverse events such as loss of privacy, data misinterpretation, or message delivery failure. Two studies reported that the costs per text message per attendance were respectively 55% and 65% lower than costs per phone call reminder. The studies included in the review did not report on health outcomes or people's perceptions of safety related to receiving reminders by text message. Low to moderate quality evidence

  8. Folate/Folic Acid Knowledge, Intake, and Self-Efficacy of College-Aged Women: Impact of Text Messaging and Availability of a Folic Acid-Containing Supplement

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rampersaud, Gail C.; Sokolow, Andrew; Gruspe, Abigail; Colee, James C.; Kauwell, Gail P. A.

    2016-01-01

    Objective: To evaluate the impact of educational text messages (TMs) on folate/folic acid knowledge and consumption among college-aged women, and to evaluate the impact of providing folic acid supplements on folate/folic acid intake among college-aged women. Participants: A total of 162 women (18-24 years) recruited from a university. Methods: The…

  9. Gender messages in contemporary popular Malay songs

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Collin Jerome

    2013-07-01

    Full Text Available Gender has been an important area of research in the field of popular music studies. Numerous scholars have found that contemporary popular music functions as a locus of diverse constructions and expressions of gender. While most studies focus on content analyses of popular music, there is still a need for more research on audience’s perception of popular music’s messages. This study examined adult Malay listeners’ perceptions of gender messages in contemporary Malay songs. A total of 16 contemporary Malay songs were analysed using Fairclough’s (1992 method of text analysis. The content of the songs that conveyed messages about gender were the basis for analysis. The results showed that the messages revolve mainly around socially constructed gender roles and expectations in romantic relationships. Gender stereotypes are also used in the songs to reinforce men’s and women’s roles in romantic relationships. The results also showed that, while listeners acknowledge the songs’ messages about gender, their own perceptions of gender and what it means to be a gendered being in today’s world are neither represented nor discussed fully in the songs analysed. It is hoped the findings from this, particularly the mismatch between projected and perceived notions of gender, contribute to the field of popular Malay music studies in particular, and popular music studies in general where gender messages in popular songs and their influence on listeners’ perceptions of their own gender is concerned.

  10. The Experiences of Newly Diagnosed Men Who Have Sex with Men Entering the HIV Care Cascade in Lima, Peru, 2015-2016: A Qualitative Analysis of Counselor-Participant Text Message Exchanges.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bayona, Erik; Menacho, Luis; Segura, Eddy R; Mburu, Gitau; Roman, Fernando; Tristan, Consuelo; Bromley, Elizabeth; Cabello, Robinson

    2017-06-01

    Mobile phone technology (mHealth) is a promising tool that has been used to improve HIV care in high-risk populations worldwide. Understanding patient perspectives of newly diagnosed men who have sex with men (MSM) in Lima, Peru during linkage and engagement in the HIV care continuum can help close the gaps in care following initial HIV diagnosis and ensure retention in continuous care. From June 2015 to March 2016, as part of a randomized controlled trial, 40 MSM participants were linked to care with an mHealth intervention within 3 months of HIV diagnosis at Via Libre clinic. For 12 weeks, participants agreed to receive weekly predetermined, standardized short message service (SMS), WhatsApp©, and/or Facebook© messages from an assigned HIV counselor. Text messaging was bi-directional, meaning participants could also send messages to their counselor at any time. In this qualitative study, we coded and thematically analyzed 947 SMS, 918 WhatsApp, and 2,694 Facebook bi-directional messages. Mean age of participants was 29.8 years (20-50); with 70 percent reporting some post-high school education and 73 percent self-identifying as homosexual. We identified six recurring themes that emerged from the data: (a) mental health symptoms; (b) coping behaviors; (c) interpersonal support; (d) physical symptoms; (e) HIV knowledge; and (f) care coordination. Participants sent text messages describing depressive symptoms and seeking mental health services during this initial stage of HIV care. For newly diagnosed MSM entering the HIV care continuum, a bi-directional mHealth intervention provided support to facilitate care while eliciting deeply personal mental and emotional states. Future interventions could benefit from using mHealth interventions as ancillary support for clinicians.

  11. Injury risk in Danish youth and senior elite handball using a new SMS text messages approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moller, Merete; Attermann, Jorn; Myklebust, Grethe; Wedderkopp, Niels

    2012-06-01

    To assess the injury incidence in elite handball, and if gender and previous injuries are risk factors for new injuries. Cohort study of 517 male and female elite handball players (age groups under (u)16, u-18 and senior). Participants completed a web survey establishing injury history, demographic information and sports experience, and provided weekly reports of time-loss injuries and handball exposure for 31 weeks by short message service text messaging (SMS). Injuries were further classified by telephone interview. The weekly response rate ranged from 85% to 90% illustrating the promise of the SMS system as a tool in injury surveillance. Of 448 reported injuries, 165 injuries (37%) were overuse injuries and 283 (63%) traumatic injuries. Knee (19%) and ankle (29%) were the most common traumatic injuries. The injury incidence during match play was 23.5 (95% CI 17.8 to 30.4), 15.1 (95% CI 9.7 to 22.2), 11.1 (95% CI 7.0 to 16.6) injuries per 1000 match hours among senior, u-18 and u-16 players, respectively. U-18 male players had an overall 1.76 (95% CI 1.10 to 2.80) times higher risk of injury compared to females. Having had two or more previous injuries causing absence from handball for more than 4 weeks increased the risk of new injury in the u-16 group (IRR: 1.79 (95% CI 1.03 to 3.11)-2.23 (95% CI 1.22 to 4.10)). The incidence of time-loss injuries in elite handball was higher during match play than previously reported in recreational handball. Previous injuries were a risk factor for new injuries among u-16 players. Male players had a significant higher injury rate in the u-18 group.

  12. Connecting Health and Technology (CHAT): protocol of a randomized controlled trial to improve nutrition behaviours using mobile devices and tailored text messaging in young adults

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-01-01

    Background Increasing intakes of fruits and vegetables intake, in tandem with reducing consumption of energy-dense and nutrient poor foods and beverages are dietary priorities to prevent chronic disease. Although most adults do not eat enough fruit and vegetables, teenagers and young adults tend to have the lowest intakes. Young adults typically consume a diet which is inconsistent with the dietary recommendations. Yet little is known about the best approaches to improve dietary intakes and behaviours among this group. This randomised controlled trial aims to evaluate the effectiveness of using a mobile device to assess dietary intake, provide tailored dietary feedback and text messages to motivate changes in fruit, vegetable and junk food consumption among young adults. Methods/design The CHAT project will involve the development of the mobile device food record (MDFR), and evaluation of dietary feedback and implementation of a 6-month intervention in young adults aged 18 to 30 years. The participants will be randomly assigned to one of three groups (1) Intervention Group 1: MDFR + Text Messages + Dietary Feedback; (2) Intervention Group 2: MDFR + Dietary Feedback; (3) Control Group 3: MDFR, no feedback. All groups will undertake a 3-day dietary record using the MDFR but only the Intervention Groups 1 and 2 will receive tailored dietary feedback at baseline and at 6-months which will consist of assessment of serves of fruits, vegetables and junk food in comparison to dietary recommendations. Tailored nutrition text messages will be sent to Intervention Group 1 over the 6 months. Data will be collected at baseline and again at the 6-month completion. Discussion This trial will test if applications running on mobile devices have potential to assess diet, provide tailored feedback and nutrition messages as an effective way of improving fruit and vegetable consumption and reducing energy-dense nutrient poor foods in young adults. The CHAT project will assess the

  13. Connecting Health and Technology (CHAT): protocol of a randomized controlled trial to improve nutrition behaviours using mobile devices and tailored text messaging in young adults.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kerr, Deborah A; Pollard, Christina M; Howat, Peter; Delp, Edward J; Pickering, Mark; Kerr, Katherine R; Dhaliwal, Satvinder S; Pratt, Iain S; Wright, Janine; Boushey, Carol J

    2012-06-22

    Increasing intakes of fruits and vegetables intake, in tandem with reducing consumption of energy-dense and nutrient poor foods and beverages are dietary priorities to prevent chronic disease. Although most adults do not eat enough fruit and vegetables, teenagers and young adults tend to have the lowest intakes. Young adults typically consume a diet which is inconsistent with the dietary recommendations. Yet little is known about the best approaches to improve dietary intakes and behaviours among this group. This randomised controlled trial aims to evaluate the effectiveness of using a mobile device to assess dietary intake, provide tailored dietary feedback and text messages to motivate changes in fruit, vegetable and junk food consumption among young adults. The CHAT project will involve the development of the mobile device food record (MDFR), and evaluation of dietary feedback and implementation of a 6-month intervention in young adults aged 18 to 30 years. The participants will be randomly assigned to one of three groups (1) Intervention Group 1: MDFR + Text Messages + Dietary Feedback; (2) Intervention Group 2: MDFR + Dietary Feedback; (3) Control Group 3: MDFR, no feedback. All groups will undertake a 3-day dietary record using the MDFR but only the Intervention Groups 1 and 2 will receive tailored dietary feedback at baseline and at 6-months which will consist of assessment of serves of fruits, vegetables and junk food in comparison to dietary recommendations. Tailored nutrition text messages will be sent to Intervention Group 1 over the 6 months. Data will be collected at baseline and again at the 6-month completion. This trial will test if applications running on mobile devices have potential to assess diet, provide tailored feedback and nutrition messages as an effective way of improving fruit and vegetable consumption and reducing energy-dense nutrient poor foods in young adults. The CHAT project will assess the impact of the intervention on behavioural

  14. Investigating the impact of viral message appeal and message credibility on consumer attitude toward brand

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Majid Esmaeilpour

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Background - Due to the rapid growth of the Internet and use of e-commerce in recent years, viral marketing has drawn the attention of manufacturing and service organizations. However, no research has been conducted to examine the impact of message appeal and message source credibility on consumers' attitude with mediating role of intellectual involvement of consumers and their risk taking level. Purpose - The aim of this study was to examine the impact of appeal and message source credibility on consumers’ attitude with mediating role of consumers’ intellectual involvement and their risk taking level. Design/methodology/approach – The population of this study includes consumers of mobile phones (Samsung, Sony, Nokia, LG and iPhone in Bushehr city (Iran. As the population of the study is unlimited, 430 questionnaires were distributed using available sampling method, and 391 questionnaires were collected and analyzed. Using structural equation modeling, data were analyzed through smart PLS software. Findings –The results show that the appeal and credibility of the message source have impact on consumer attitudes toward the brand. It was also found that intellectual involvement of consumers plays the mediating role in the relationship between message appeal and consumer attitudes toward brand. In the relationship between message source credibility and customer attitude towards the brand, the level of risk taking of people has no mediating role. Research limitations/implications – Data collection tool was questionnaire in this study, and questionnaire has some disadvantages that can affect the results. Additionally, this study was conducted in Bushehr city (Iran. Therefore, we should be cautious in generalizing the findings. Originality/value – In this study, the effect of message appeal and message source credibility on consumer attitude to brand was examined. The risk taking level of consumer and his involvement level were considered

  15. Effects of Instant Messaging on School Performance in Adolescents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grover, Karan; Pecor, Keith; Malkowski, Michael; Kang, Lilia; Machado, Sasha; Lulla, Roshni; Heisey, David; Ming, Xue

    2016-06-01

    Instant messaging may compromise sleep quality and school performance in adolescents. We aimed to determine associations between nighttime messaging and daytime sleepiness, self-reported sleep parameters, and/or school performance. Students from 3 high schools in New Jersey completed anonymous questionnaires assessing sleep duration, daytime sleepiness, messaging habits, and academic performance. Of the 2,352 students sampled, 1,537 responses were contrasted among grades, sexes, and messaging duration, both before and after lights out. Students who reported longer duration of messaging after lights out were more likely to report a shorter sleep duration, higher rate of daytime sleepiness, and poorer academic performance. Messaging before lights out was not associated with higher rates of daytime sleepiness or poorer academic performance. Females reported more messaging, more daytime sleepiness, and better academic performance than males. There may be an association between text messaging and school performance in this cohort of students. © The Author(s) 2016.

  16. Designing Anti-Binge Drinking Prevention Messages: Message Framing vs. Evidence Type.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kang, Hannah; Lee, Moon J

    2017-09-27

    We investigated whether presenting anti-binge drinking health campaign messages in different message framing and evidence types influences college students' intention to avoid binge drinking, based on prospect theory (PT) and exemplification theory. A 2 (message framing: loss-framed message/gain-framed message) X 2 (evidence type: statistical/narrative) between-subjects factorial design with a control group was conducted with 156 college students. College students who were exposed to the loss-framed message condition exhibited a higher level of intention to avoid binge drinking in the near future than those who did not see any messages (the control group). This finding was mainly among non-binge drinkers. Regardless of evidence type, those who were exposed to the messages exhibited a higher level of intention to avoid binge drinking than those in the control group. This is also mainly among non-binge drinkers. We also found the main effects of message framing and evidence type on attitude toward the message and the main effect of message framing on attitude toward drinking.

  17. Improving Type Error Messages in OCaml

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Arthur Charguéraud

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available Cryptic type error messages are a major obstacle to learning OCaml or other ML-based languages. In many cases, error messages cannot be interpreted without a sufficiently-precise model of the type inference algorithm. The problem of improving type error messages in ML has received quite a bit of attention over the past two decades, and many different strategies have been considered. The challenge is not only to produce error messages that are both sufficiently concise and systematically useful to the programmer, but also to handle a full-blown programming language and to cope with large-sized programs efficiently. In this work, we present a modification to the traditional ML type inference algorithm implemented in OCaml that, by significantly reducing the left-to-right bias, allows us to report error messages that are more helpful to the programmer. Our algorithm remains fully predictable and continues to produce fairly concise error messages that always help making some progress towards fixing the code. We implemented our approach as a patch to the OCaml compiler in just a few hundred lines of code. We believe that this patch should benefit not just to beginners, but also to experienced programs developing large-scale OCaml programs.

  18. Effect of Electronic Messaging on Physical Activity Participation among Older Adults

    OpenAIRE

    Antoine Parker, Chantrell; Ellis, Rebecca

    2016-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to determine if electronic messaging would increase min of aerobic physical activity (PA) among older adults. Participants were active older adults (n = 28; M age = 60 years, SD = 5.99, and range = 51?74 years). Using an incomplete within-subjects crossover design, participants were randomly assigned to begin the 4-week study receiving the treatment condition (a morning and evening text message) or the control condition (an evening text message). Participants sel...

  19. Kompresi Teks Menggunakan Algoritma Huffman Dan Md5 Pada Instant Messaging Smartphone Android

    OpenAIRE

    Chulkamdi, M. Taofik; Pramono, Sholeh Hadi; Yudaningtyas, Erni

    2015-01-01

    Instant messaging is one of Android social media application that make user possible to send short messages directly in the same time (real time) using text to another user that online in the some network, more ever a lot of user using this application as an alternative communication via short message service (SMS). Remembering how important this application, so writer make an instant message application with small text transmission that will provide in the current needs with Huffman algorith...

  20. Advanced Messaging Concept Development Basic Safety Message

    Data.gov (United States)

    Department of Transportation — Contains all Basic Safety Messages (BSMs) collected during the Advanced Messaging Concept Development (AMCD) field testing program. For this project, all of the Part...

  1. Investigating the impact of viral message appeal and message credibility on consumer attitude toward the brand

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Esmaeilpour Majid

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available Due to the rapid growth of the Internet and use of e-commerce in the recent years, viral marketing has drawn the attention of manufacturing and service organizations. However, no research has been conducted to examine the impact of message appeal and message source credibility on consumers’ attitude with mediating role of intellectual involvement of consumers and their risk taking level. The aim of this study was to examine the impact of appeal and message source credibility on consumers’ attitude with mediating role of consumers’ intellectual involvement and their risk taking level. The population of this study includes consumers of mobile phones (Samsung, Sony, Nokia, LG and iPhone in the Bushehr city (Iran. As the population of the study is unlimited, 430 questionnaires were distributed using available sampling method, and 391 questionnaires were collected and analyzed. Using structural equation modeling, we analysed the data through smart PLS software. The results show that the appeal and credibility of the message source impact the consumer attitudes toward the brand. We also found that the intellectual involvement of consumers plays the mediating role in the relationship between message appeal and consumer attitudes toward brands. In the relationship between message source credibility and customer attitude towards the brand, the level of risk taking of people has no mediating role.

  2. Countering Islamic State Messaging Through “Linkage-Based” Analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    J.M. Berger

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available The Islamic State’s recent losses on the battlefield, including significant casualties within its media and propaganda division, offer a unique opportunity to inject competing and alternative messages into the information space. This paper proposes that the content of such messages should be guided by a linkage-based analysis of existing Islamic State messaging. A linkage-based analysis of a top-level 2017 audio message by Islamic State spokesperson Abu Hasan al Muhajir offers several potential insights into crafting effective content for competing and alternative messages. A comparison of the 2017 work to earlier Islamic State messaging also reveals specific opportunities to undermine the credibility of the organisation’s broader propaganda programme by highlighting the organisation’s repeated failure to follow through on its extravagantly promised commitment to achieving its stated goals.

  3. Effects of Electronic Word - of - Mouth Messages

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Choong Hoon Lim

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available With the increased usage of online technologies, there has been an escalation of Electronic Word - of –Mouth (eWOM messages related to sport products and services offered and consumed. Therefore, in this original investigation by applying eWOM to the sport industry, this study examined how the combination of the quality of the eWOM message and the provider of the eWOM message affects purchaseintentions depending on the expertise level of the consumer. This study – which involved the collection of data from 134 students at a large university situated in the Midwest of the United States – utilized repeated measures of Analysis of Variance (ANOVA with tripartite groups of expertise and experimental conditions as independent variables. Purchase intention was the dependent variables. The results indicated that the quality of the eWOM message moderated the effect of the provider of the eWOM message. The subject’s level of expertise also had a moderating role on purchase intention.

  4. The socio-demographics of texting

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ling, Richard; Bertel, Troels Fibæk; Sundsøy, Pål

    2012-01-01

    Who texts, and with whom do they text? This article examines the use of texting using metered traffic data from a large dataset (nearly 400 million anonymous text messages). We ask 1) How much do different age groups use mobile phone based texting (SMS)? 2) How wide is the circle of texting...

  5. Effect of Electronic Messaging on Physical Activity Participation among Older Adults

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chantrell Antoine Parker

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this study was to determine if electronic messaging would increase min of aerobic physical activity (PA among older adults. Participants were active older adults (n=28; M age = 60 years, SD = 5.99, and range = 51–74 years. Using an incomplete within-subjects crossover design, participants were randomly assigned to begin the 4-week study receiving the treatment condition (a morning and evening text message or the control condition (an evening text message. Participants self-reported min of completed aerobic PA by cell phone text. The 1-way within-subjects ANOVA showed significant group differences (p<0.05. Specifically, when participants were in the treatment condition, they reported significantly greater average weekly min of aerobic PA (M = 96.88 min, SD = 62.9 compared to when they completed the control condition (M = 71.68 min, SD = 40.98. Electronic messaging delivered via cell phones was effective at increasing min of aerobic PA among older adults.

  6. An Interactive Text Message Intervention to Reduce Binge Drinking in Young Adults: A Randomized Controlled Trial with 9-Month Outcomes.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Brian Suffoletto

    Full Text Available Binge drinking is associated with numerous negative consequences. The prevalence and intensity of binge drinking is highest among young adults. This randomized trial tested the efficacy of a 12-week interactive text message intervention to reduce binge drinking up to 6 months after intervention completion among young adults.Young adult participants (18-25 y; n = 765 drinking above the low-risk limits (AUDIT-C score >3/4 women/men, but not seeking alcohol treatment, were enrolled from 4 Emergency Departments (EDs in Pittsburgh, PA. Participants were randomized to one of three conditions in a 2:1:1 allocation ratio: SMS Assessments + Feedback (SA+F, SMS Assessments (SA, or control. For 12 weeks, SA+F participants received texts each Thursday querying weekend drinking plans and prompting drinking limit goal commitment and each Sunday querying weekend drinking quantity. SA+F participants received tailored feedback based on their text responses. To contrast the effects of SA+F with self-monitoring, SA participants received texts on Sundays querying drinking quantity, but did not receive alcohol-specific feedback. The control arm received standard care. Follow-up outcome data collected through web-based surveys were provided by 78% of participants at 3- months, 63% at 6-months and 55% at 9-months. Multiple imputation-derived, intent-to-treat models were used for primary analysis. At 9-months, participants in the SA+F group reported greater reductions in the number of binge drinking days than participants in the control group (incident rate ratio [IRR] 0.69; 95% CI .59 to.79, lower binge drinking prevalence (odds ratio [OR] 0.52; 95% CI 0.26 to 0.98], less drinks per drinking day (beta -.62; 95% CI -1.10 to -0.15 and lower alcohol-related injury prevalence (OR 0.42; 95% CI 0.21 to 0.88. Participants in the SA group did not reduce drinking or alcohol-related injury relative to controls. Findings were similar using complete case analyses.An interactive

  7. Persuasive texts for prompting action: Agency assignment in HPV vaccination reminders.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McGlone, Matthew S; Stephens, Keri K; Rodriguez, Serena A; Fernandez, Maria E

    2017-08-03

    Vaccination reminders must both inform and persuade, and text messages designed for this purpose must do so in 160 characters or less. We tested a strategy for improving the impact of HPV vaccination text message reminders through strategic wording. In an experiment conducted in community settings, 167 Spanish-speaking Latina mothers reviewed text message reminders that assigned the cause or "agency" for HPV transmission to their daughters or the virus, and assigned protection agency to the mothers or the vaccine. Reminder messages framing transmission as an action of the virus prompted mothers to perceive the threat as more severe than messages describing their daughters as the cause. Assigning transmission agency to the virus also held a persuasive advantage in boosting mothers' intentions to seek vaccination, particularly when the message cast mothers as agents of protection rather than the vaccine. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. Alternative Data Storage Solution for Mobile Messaging Services

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    David C. C. Ong

    2007-01-01

    Full Text Available In recent years, mobile devices have become relatively more powerful with additional features which have the capability to provide multimedia streaming. Better, faster and more reliable data storage solutions in the mobile messaging platform have become more essential with these additional improvements. The existing mobile messaging infrastructure, in particular the data storage platform has become less proficient in coping with the increased demand for its services. This demand especially in the mobile messaging area (i.e. SMS – Short Messaging Service, MMS – Multimedia Messaging Service, which may well exceeded 250,000 requests per second, means that the need to evaluate competing data management systems has become not only necessary but essential. This paper presents an evaluation of SMS and MMS platforms using different database management systems – DBMS and recommends the best data management strategies for these platforms.

  9. 'MATRI-SUMAN' a capacity building and text messaging intervention to enhance maternal and child health service utilization among pregnant women from rural Nepal: study protocol for a cluster randomised controlled trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Singh, Jitendra Kumar; Kadel, Rajendra; Acharya, Dilaram; Lombard, Daniel; Khanal, Saval; Singh, Shri Prakash

    2018-06-14

    Capacity development of health volunteers and text messaging to pregnant women through mobile phones have shown improved maternal and child health (MCH) outcomes and is associated with increased utilisation of MCH services. However, such interventions are uncommon in Nepal. We aim to carry out an intervention with the hypothesis that capacity building and text messaging intervention will increase the MCH service utilisation. MATRI-SUMAN is a 12-month cluster randomized controlled trial (RCT). The trial involves pregnant women from 52 clusters of six village development committees (VDCs) covering 66,000 populations of Dhanusha district of Nepal. In the intervention clusters, Female Community Health Volunteers (FCHVs) will receive capacity development skills through reinforcement training, supervision and monitoring skills for the promotion of health seeking behaviour among pregnant women and study participants will receive periodic promotional text messaging service about MCH components through mobile phones. A sample of 354with equal numbers in each study arm is estimated using power calculation formula. The primary outcomes of this study are the rate of utilization of skilled birth attendants and consumption of a specified diversified meal. The secondary outcomes are: four antenatal (ANC) visits, weight gain of women during pregnancy, delivery of a baby at the health facility, postnatal care (PNC) visits, positive changes in child feeding practices among mothers, performance of FCHVs in MCH service utilization. The intervention is designed to enhance the capacity of health volunteers for the promotion of health seeking behaviour among pregnant women and text messaging through a mobile phone to expecting mothers to increase MCH service utilization. The trial if proven effective will have policy implications in poor resource settings. ISRCTN60684155, ( https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN60684155 ). The trial was registered retrospectively.

  10. When message-frame fits salient cultural-frame, messages feel more persuasive.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Uskul, Ayse K; Oyserman, Daphna

    2010-03-01

    The present study examines the persuasive effects of tailored health messages comparing those tailored to match (versus not match) both chronic cultural frame and momentarily salient cultural frame. Evidence from two studies (Study 1: n = 72 European Americans; Study 2: n = 48 Asian Americans) supports the hypothesis that message persuasiveness increases when chronic cultural frame, health message tailoring and momentarily salient cultural frame all match. The hypothesis was tested using a message about health risks of caffeine consumption among individuals prescreened to be regular caffeine consumers. After being primed for individualism, European Americans who read a health message that focused on the personal self were more likely to accept the message-they found it more persuasive, believed they were more at risk and engaged in more message-congruent behaviour. These effects were also found among Asian Americans who were primed for collectivism and who read a health message that focused on relational obligations. The findings point to the importance of investigating the role of situational cues in persuasive effects of health messages and suggest that matching content to primed frame consistent with the chronic frame may be a way to know what to match messages to.

  11. Short message service (SMS) texting as a method of communication during on call: prevalence and experience of medical staff in a large acute NHS Trust in the UK.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Matharu, J; Hale, B; Ammar, M; Brennan, P A

    2016-10-01

    With the widespread use of smartphones, text messaging has become an accepted form of communication for both social and professional use in medicine. To our knowledge no published studies have assessed the prevalence and use of short message service (SMS) texting by doctors on call. We have used an online questionnaire to seek information from doctors in a large NHS Trust in the UK about their use of texting while on call, what they use it for, and whether they send images relevant to patients' care. We received 302 responses (43% response rate), of whom 166 (55%) used SMS while on call. There was a significant association between SMS and age group (p=0.005), with the 20-30-year-old group using it much more than the other age groups. Doctors in the surgical specialties used it significantly less than those in other speciality groups (pcall was deemed to be safe and reliable (pcommunication to use when on call. Copyright © 2016 The British Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  12. Comparison of two text message (mHealth) campaigns for the Deaf: Contracted out v. conducted in-house.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hacking, Damian; Lau, Yan Kwan; Haricharan, Hanne Jensen; Heap, Marion

    2015-11-20

    Cell phone-based health information (mobile health or mHealth) campaigns are an emerging technology. This evaluation focused on the aspect of cost of two health information campaigns, one on hypertension and one on pregnancy. Researchers could either contract out the technical components of the campaigns or attempt to run the campaigns themselves, in-house. The in-house campaigns cost an estimated ZAR13 548.72 v. the private provider quotes which ranged from ZAR27 542.97 to ZAR34 227.59. Running the campaigns in-house was more labour intensive and required more technical expertise, but had a reduced delivery failure rate (9.2% in-house v. 30.0% private provider). Running small to medium SMS (text message) campaigns for evaluative purposes proved advantageous over contracting out to private providers. Larger-scale evaluations and full-scale roll-out will require the services of private providers, but it is still essential that researchers actively engage with and monitor the technical aspects of these campaigns.

  13. Identifying spam e-mail messages using an intelligence algorithm

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Parichehr Ghaedi

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available During the past few years, there have been growing interests in using email for delivering various types of messages such as social, financial, etc. There are also people who use email messages to promote products and services or even to do criminal activities called Spam email. These unwanted messages are sent to different target population for different purposes and there is a growing interest to develop methods to filter such email messages. This paper presents a method to filter Spam email messages based on the keyword pattern. In this article, a multi-agent filter trade based on the Bayes rule, which has benefit of using the users’ interest, keywords and investigation the message content according to its topic, has been used. Then Nested Neural Network has been used to detect the spam messages. To check the authenticity of this proposed method, we test it for a couple of email messages, so that it could determine spams and hams from each other, effectively. The result shows the superiority of this method over the previous ones including filters with Multi-Layer Perceptron that detect spams.

  14. Wearable Sensor/Device (Fitbit One) and SMS Text-Messaging Prompts to Increase Physical Activity in Overweight and Obese Adults: A Randomized Controlled Trial

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cadmus-Bertram, Lisa A.; Natarajan, Loki; White, Martha M.; Madanat, Hala; Nichols, Jeanne F.; Ayala, Guadalupe X.; Pierce, John P.

    2015-01-01

    Abstract Background: Studies have shown self-monitoring can modify health behaviors, including physical activity (PA). This study tested the utility of a wearable sensor/device (Fitbit® One™; Fitbit Inc., San Francisco, CA) and short message service (SMS) text-messaging prompts to increase PA in overweight and obese adults. Materials and Methods: Sixty-seven adults wore a Fitbit One tracker for 6 weeks; half were randomized to also receive three daily SMS-based PA prompts. The Fitbit One consisted of a wearable tracker for instant feedback on performance and a Web site/mobile application (app) for detailed summaries. Outcome measures were objectively measured steps and minutes of PA by intensity using two accelerometers: Actigraph™ (Pensacola, FL) GT3X+ (primary measure) at baseline and Week 6 and Fitbit One (secondary measure) at baseline and Weeks 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. Results: Mixed-model repeated-measures analysis of primary measures indicated a significant within-group increase of +4.3 (standard error [SE]=2.0) min/week of moderate- to vigorous-intensity PA (MVPA) at 6-week follow-up (p=0.04) in the comparison group (Fitbit only), but no study group differences across PA levels. Secondary measures indicated the SMS text-messaging effect lasted for only 1 week: the intervention group increased by +1,266 steps (SE=491; p=0.01), +17.8 min/week MVPA (SE=8.5; p=0.04), and +38.3 min/week total PA (SE=15.9; p=0.02) compared with no changes in the comparison group, and these between-group differences were significant for steps (p=0.01), fairly/very active minutes (p<0.01), and total active minutes (p=0.02). Conclusions: These data suggest that the Fitbit One achieved a small increase in MVPA at follow-up and that the SMS-based PA prompts were insufficient in increasing PA beyond 1 week. Future studies can test this intervention in those requiring less help and/or test strategies to increase participants' engagement levels. PMID:26431257

  15. Measuring Future Worker Productivity via Business Email Message Creation: Implications for Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hagler, Barbara E.; Erthal, Margaret; Walzer, Dona; Anderson, Marcia A.

    2009-01-01

    Objective: This research was conducted to determine if relationships exist among college students' business email message productivity score and (a) email message quality score, (b) text keying method used to create email message, and (c) self-reported college English grade. Background: Email is increasingly the communication channel preferred for…

  16. VISUAL ART AND REGULATORY FIT MESSAGES ON CONSUMER EVALUATIONS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Danielle Mantovani

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available In this study, we demonstrate that the art infusion effect, in which the presence of visual art causes a positive impact on consumers’ perceptions of products and advertising messages, might have a moderation effect on regulatory fit and non-fit messages. We investigate the impact of visual art on advertisement evaluations in regulatory (non- fit conditions. Regulatory focus theory suggests that consumers rely on their motivational focus (prevention vs. promotion for their evaluations and decisions. Usually, consumers prefer products that fit with their personal motivational focus. In the present study, the results of three experiments indicate that using visual art with a promotion or prevention fit message is recommended, while non-art images increase message persuasiveness when non-fit messages are presented. Therefore, not all information compatible with the consumer’s motivational focus are best evaluated. When non-art images are presented, non-fit messages might be more persuasive.

  17. Covert Channel Pada Aliran Data Websocket untuk Komunikasi Messaging XMPP

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yoga Dwitya Pramudita

    2015-07-01

    Abstract Instant Messaging communication services provide a variety of communication features that can be used by the user, such as text messaging (text messages both online and offline. One of the standard protocol that supports this service is XMPP (Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol. XMPP communication using XML documents, making it vulnerable to passive attacks monitoring content of  communications. To overcome this drawback the solution is encrypted communications. The other solutions that try to offer in this research is the use of a covert channel to send hidden messages. In this research will create a browser based XMPP client application that is capable to deliver XMPP communication and also provide covert channel communication. XMPP communication can be built on a web-based application using WebSocket protocol. This protocol will exploit field masking-key to load the covert channel messages that is sent during the session XMPP communication takes place. From the test results, the client application is able to produce a covert channel communication with a data width of 3 bytes in each packet. The client application is also able to perform covert communication channel in a communication link with the condition of the probability of packet loss rate below 10%.   Keywords— WebSocket, XMPP, masking-key, Covert Channel, browser based application.

  18. Technical Evaluation Report 6: Chat and Instant Messaging Systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jennifer Stein

    2002-04-01

    Full Text Available Text-based conferencing can be both asynchronous (i.e., participants log into the conference at separate times, and synchronous (i.e., interaction takes place in real time. It is thus subject to the same wide variation as the online audio- and video-conferencing methods (see the earlier Reports in this series. Synchronous text-based approaches (e.g., online chat groups and instant messaging systems are highly popular among online users generally owing to their ability to bring together special-interest groups from around the world without cost. In distance education (DE, however, synchronous chat methods are less widely used, owing in part to the problems of arranging for working adults in different time zones to join a discussion group simultaneously. Instant text messaging is more popular among DE users in view of the choice it provides between responding to a message immediately (synchronous communication or after a delay (asynchronous. The different synchronous and asynchronous approaches are likely to become more widely used in parallel with one another, as they are integrated in individual product packages.

  19. Texte, intertexte et iconotexte dans le message publicitaire

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    I. C. CORJAN

    2007-12-01

    Full Text Available The paper states the fact that although the roles of the text and of the image in an advertisement are dynamic and appear in variable proportions depending on numerous criteria, they are also beautifully balanced, especially if compared from a functional point of view, determining and depending upon each other in a coherent discursive unity. Between text and image there are usually the following relations of reciprocity: support (argumentation, redundancy, paraphrase; complementarity (in-formation that is autonomous in form, but convergent in content; rhetorical amplification (meaning transfer, metaphorisation, hyperbolisation etc.; opposition (antithesis, exaggeration, non-antagonistic contradiction etc.. In general, both the verbal and the iconic develop, much to their mutual advantage, an extra meaning which the former establishes linguistically, and the latter exaggerates visually. In this case, however, the image always goes beyond the verbal information, thanks to its deep-rooted polysemy. Thus, in the special case of printed advertising, there are a few prevalent icono-textual structures, with obvious intertextual and paratextual functions: intertextuality of the writ-ten text; figurative iconic intertextuality; icono-textual intertextuality; double intertextuality: verbal-written and icono-textual. The end of the study puts forward a new formulation of the icono-text and of the typology of printed advertising included in written media and indoor/ outdoor posting.

  20. A Visualized Message Interface (VMI) for intelligent messaging services

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Endo, T.; Kasahara, H.; Nakagawa, T.

    1984-01-01

    In CCITT, Message Handling Systems (MHS) have been studied from the viewpoint of communications protocol standardization. In addition to MHS services, Message Processing (MP) services, such as image processing, filing and retrieving services, will come into increasing demand in office automation field. These messaging services, including MHS services, can be thought of as Intelligent Messaging (IM) services. IM services include many basic services, optional user facilities and service parameters. Accordingly, it is necessary to deal with these parameters and MP procedures in as systematic and user-friendly a manner as possible. As one step towards realizing a user-friendly IM services interface, the characteristics of IM service parameters are studied and a Visualized Message Interface (VMI) which resembles a conventional letter exchange format is presented. The concept of VMI formation is discussed using the generic document structure concept as well as a Screen Interface and Protocol Interface conversion package

  1. HL7 Messaging Engine with Customizable Translation System

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    PRODAN, R.

    2010-05-01

    Full Text Available This paper introduces a new client-server messaging engine used to exchange clinical data between various medical software applications. Our portal uses the HL7 (Health Level Seven messaging standard to provide translated clinical data to HL7 and non-HL7 client applications. We used HL7 because this standard is worldwide used to facilitate the communication between clinical applications.

  2. The use of telehealth (text messaging and video communications) in patients with cystic fibrosis: A pilot study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gur, Michal; Nir, Vered; Teleshov, Anna; Bar-Yoseph, Ronen; Manor, Eynav; Diab, Gizelle; Bentur, Lea

    2017-05-01

    Background Poor communications between cystic fibrosis (CF) patients and health-care providers may result in gaps in knowledge and misconceptions about medication usage, and can lead to poor adherence. We aimed to assess the feasibility of using WhatsApp and Skype to improve communications. Methods This single-centre pilot study included CF patients who were older than eight years of age assigned to two groups: one without intervention (control group), and one with intervention. Each patient from the intervention group received Skype-based online video chats and WhatsApp messages from members of the multidisciplinary CF team. CF questionnaires, revised (CFQ-R) scores, knowledge and adherence based on CF My Way and patients satisfaction were evaluated before and after three months. Feasibility was assessed by session attendance, acceptability and satisfaction survey. Descriptive analysis and paired and non-paired t-tests were used as applicable. Results Eighteen patients were recruited to this feasibility study (nine in each group). Each intervention group participant had between four and six Skype video chats and received 22-45 WhatsApp messages. In this small study, CFQ-R scores, knowledge, adherence and patient satisfaction were similar in both groups before and after the three-month intervention. Conclusions A telehealth-based approach, using Skype video chats and WhatsApp messages, was feasible and acceptable in this pilot study. A larger and longer multi-centre study is warranted to examine the efficacy of these interventions to improve knowledge, adherence and communication.

  3. Innovations and Reproduction in Second Language (L2 New Media: A Discursive- Semiotic Study of Selected SMS Text Messages in Nigeria

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tunde Opeibi

    2013-03-01

    Full Text Available Since the turn of the new millennium, the new media has continued to alter the communication configuration in modern societies. The social media tools have been influencing the way we interact and communicate. These wireless networks have confirmed that our world has indeed become a global village by creating a superhighway for communication possibilities never witnessed in human history. While scholars  have explored the roles of  some of the new media platforms e.g. Facebook  blogging, and twitter for private and public discourses(e.g., Taiwo, 2010; Presley, 2010, 2012,  previous studies in the use of SMS in Nigeria have concentrated more on sociolinguistic, lexical, or morpho-syntactic  features of text messages (e.g., Awonusi, 2004; Chiluwa, 2010. The present study, however, considers aspects of the new media discourse strategies as resources in a second language setting that demonstrate users’ bilingual creativity. It adopts a discursive-semiotic approach in its analytical paradigm to examine how participants, sharing the mobile protocols, deploy linguistic and non-linguistic facilities as well as contextual resources to create relationship and to enact meaning. The approaches of Discourse Analysis (DA and Semiotics (Schiffrin, 1994; Chandler, 2001 as well as insight from Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC, and Computer-Mediated Discourse Analysis (CMDA(Herring 2001, 2004;  O’Riley, 2005;  Herring, 2007 provide the theoretical underpinning for this study.  CMC and CMDA, for instance, have been used as tool kits to study and   to explain how the new media technologies influence the strategies with which language users within a given virtual sphere engage a wide range of audience through the virtual protocols. The study finds that the use of text messages has opened up creative ways of deploying the resources of a non-native language (English among bilinguals in Nigeria. The outcome of this innovative and reproduction process

  4. Adolescents’ perceptions of a mobile cell phone text messaging-enhanced intervention and development of a mobile cell phone-based HIV prevention intervention

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cornelius, Judith B.; St. Lawrence, Janet S.; Howard, Jacquelyn C.; Shah, Deval; Poka, Avinash; McDonald, Delilah; White, Ann C.

    2013-01-01

    Purpose This study examined African American adolescents’ perceptions of a mobile cell phone (MCP)-enhanced intervention and development of an MCP-based HIV prevention intervention. Design and Methods One focus group was conducted with 11 adolescents who participated in the Becoming a Responsible Teen Text Messaging project. Results Adolescents said they benefited from the MCP-enhanced approach and were receptive to the idea of developing an MCP-based intervention. Practice Implications Nurses can use the findings of this report as a starting point in examining the development of MCP-based sexuality education with parents and adolescents. PMID:22188273

  5. Reactions to threatening health messages

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    ten Hoor Gill A

    2012-11-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Threatening health messages that focus on severity are popular, but frequently have no effect or even a counterproductive effect on behavior change. This paradox (i.e. wide application despite low effectiveness may be partly explained by the intuitive appeal of threatening communication: it may be hard to predict the defensive reactions occurring in response to fear appeals. We examine this hypothesis by using two studies by Brown and colleagues, which provide evidence that threatening health messages in the form of distressing imagery in anti-smoking and anti-alcohol campaigns cause defensive reactions. Methods We simulated both Brown et al. experiments, asking participants to estimate the reactions of the original study subjects to the threatening health information (n = 93. Afterwards, we presented the actual original study outcomes. One week later, we assessed whether this knowledge of the actual study outcomes helped participants to more successfully estimate the effectiveness of the threatening health information (n = 72. Results Results showed that participants were initially convinced of the effectiveness of threatening health messages and were unable to anticipate the defensive reactions that in fact occurred. Furthermore, these estimates did not improve after participants had been explained the dynamics of threatening communication as well as what the effects of the threatening communication had been in reality. Conclusions These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that the effectiveness of threatening health messages is intuitively appealing. What is more, providing empirical evidence against the use of threatening health messages has very little effect on this intuitive appeal.

  6. Does the Screening Status of Message Characters Affect Message Effects?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alber, Julia M.; Glanz, Karen

    2018-01-01

    Public health messages can be used to increase awareness about colorectal cancer screenings. Free or inexpensive images for creating health messages are readily available, yet little is known about how a pictured individual's engagement in the behavior of interest affects message outcomes. Participants (N = 360), aged 50 to 75 years, completed an…

  7. Should We Be Afraid of Simple Messages? The Effects of Text Difficulty and Illustrations in People With Low or High Health Literacy

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Meppelink, Corine S.; Smit, Edith G.; Buurman, Bianca M.; van Weert, Julia C. M.

    2015-01-01

    It is often recommended that health information should be simplified for people with low health literacy. However, little is known about whether messages adapted to low health literacy audiences are also effective for people with high health literacy, or whether simple messages are counterproductive

  8. Should we be afraid of simple messages? The effects of text difficulty and illustrations in people with low or high health literacy

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Meppelink, C.S.; Smit, E.G.; Buurman, B.M.; van Weert, J.C.M.

    2015-01-01

    It is often recommended that health information should be simplified for people with low health literacy. However, little is known about whether messages adapted to low health literacy audiences are also effective for people with high health literacy, or whether simple messages are counterproductive

  9. DMS message design workshops.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2009-03-01

    This report summarizes the training conducted statewide regarding the design and display of messages on : dynamic message signs. The training is based on the Dynamic Message Sign Message Design and Display : Manual (0-4023-P3). Researchers developed ...

  10. Understanding the effectiveness of the entertainment-education strategy: an investigation of how audience involvement, message processing, and message design influence health information recall.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Quintero Johnson, Jessie M; Harrison, Kristen; Quick, Brian L

    2013-01-01

    A growing body of evidence suggests that entertainment-education (EE) is a promising health communication strategy. The purpose of this study was to identify some of the factors that facilitate and hinder audience involvement with EE messages. Using confirmatory factor analysis, the authors introduce a construct they call experiential involvement, which describes the experience of being cognitively and emotionally involved with EE messages and is a product of transportation into an EE text and identification with EE characters. Using an experimental design, the authors also investigated how reports of experiential involvement and health information recall varied depending on the degree to which the educational content was well integrated with the narrative content in EE messages. Findings indicated that integration significantly influenced health information recall. Results indicated that experiential involvement and the perception that the health topic in EE messages was personally relevant predicted participants' systematic processing of the information in EE messages. Contrary to expectation, personal relevance did not predict experiential involvement, and systematic message processing was negatively related to health information recall. Implications for the construction of EE messages and the study of the EE strategy are discussed.

  11. Factors associated with communication-based sedentary behaviors among youth: are talking on the phone, texting, and instant messaging new sedentary behaviors to be concerned about?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leatherdale, Scott T

    2010-09-01

    Sedentary behavior research typically only examines screen time activities and not communication time activities, such as talking on the phone, texting, or instant messaging. Data from 2,449 grade 5 to 8 students were used to examine factors associated with the time youth spent in communication-based sedentary behaviors. Screen time, physical activity, grade, and gender were associated with moderate and high communication time. Future research on sedentary behavior should include measures of communication time.

  12. Application of a Tsunami Warning Message Metric to refine NOAA NWS Tsunami Warning Messages

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gregg, C. E.; Johnston, D.; Sorensen, J.; Whitmore, P.

    2013-12-01

    In 2010, the U.S. National Weather Service (NWS) funded a three year project to integrate social science into their Tsunami Program. One of three primary requirements of the grant was to make improvements to tsunami warning messages of the NWS' two Tsunami Warning Centers- the West Coast/Alaska Tsunami Warning Center (WCATWC) in Palmer, Alaska and the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) in Ewa Beach, Hawaii. We conducted focus group meetings with a purposive sample of local, state and Federal stakeholders and emergency managers in six states (AK, WA, OR, CA, HI and NC) and two US Territories (US Virgin Islands and American Samoa) to qualitatively asses information needs in tsunami warning messages using WCATWC tsunami messages for the March 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami event. We also reviewed research literature on behavioral response to warnings to develop a tsunami warning message metric that could be used to guide revisions to tsunami warning messages of both warning centers. The message metric is divided into categories of Message Content, Style, Order and Formatting and Receiver Characteristics. A message is evaluated by cross-referencing the message with the operational definitions of metric factors. Findings are then used to guide revisions of the message until the characteristics of each factor are met. Using findings from this project and findings from a parallel NWS Warning Tiger Team study led by T. Nicolini, the WCATWC implemented the first of two phases of revisions to their warning messages in November 2012. A second phase of additional changes, which will fully implement the redesign of messages based on the metric, is in progress. The resulting messages will reflect current state-of-the-art knowledge on warning message effectiveness. Here we present the message metric; evidence-based rational for message factors; and examples of previous, existing and proposed messages.

  13. Advertising Message Customisation/Standardisation And Corporate And Consumer Culture

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cristea Sanda Ligia

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available Advertising translators should be familiarised with the cultural conventions in the target market so that they can re-create the message conveyed in ads. However, advertising message adaptation depends not only on the customer profile but also on corporate culture. The paper focuses on the correlation between these elements and the linguistic choices made by some copywriters.

  14. Retesting young STI clinic visitors with urogenital Chlamydia trachomatis infection in the Netherlands; response to a text message reminder and reinfection rates: a prospective study with historical controls.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kampman, Cjg; Koedijk, Fdh; Driessen-Hulshof, Hcm; Hautvast, Jla; van den Broek, Ivf

    2016-03-01

    The objective of this study is to assess the effect of reminder text messages 6 months after the initial treatment on retest and chlamydia reinfection rates in young heterosexuals compared with a historical control group and to assess factors associated with both outcomes. Heterosexual people (aged 16-23 years), testing positive for urogenital chlamydia, were offered a retest after 6 months. Participants received a text message reminder at 6 months after the initial chlamydia diagnosis. Rates of retest uptake and the result of the retest were analysed using Cox regression. Prevalence ratios (PRs) were calculated to identify factors associated with these outcomes. Furthermore, the retest rate was compared with the retest rate of a historical control group. 30.6% (253/838) of the study group returned within 5-8 months compared with 9.2% (140/1530) in the historical control group. Women and persons who were not notified for a sexually transmitted infection (STI) at inclusion were more likely to return for a retest. 20.4% (56/275) of participants had a chlamydia reinfection upon retesting. Reinfection was higher in participants reporting STI-related symptoms (PR 3.2, 95% CI 1.8 to 5.6) and in participants who were notified for an STI at retest (PR 5.3, 95% CI 2.4 to 11.5). A text message reminder appeared to have a clear, positive impact on the resulting retest rate. These results also indicate that retesting is necessary to identify chlamydia reinfections. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/

  15. Interactive weekly mobile phone text messaging plus motivational interviewing in promotion of breastfeeding among women living with HIV in South Africa: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zunza, Moleen; Cotton, Mark F; Mbuagbaw, Lawrence; Lester, Richard; Thabane, Lehana

    2017-07-17

    South Africa recently phased out access to free formula milk in the public sector in support of breastfeeding for women living with HIV. Few women living with HIV in South Africa choose breastfeeding and among those who do, many stop breastfeeding early. We sought to explore the feasibility of using mobile phone text messaging coupled with motivational interviewing to enhance adherence to breastfeeding practices. A randomized, parallel group, single-center pilot trial. Electronic sequence generation and random allocation will be done centrally. Women of low socioeconomic status, from Cape Town, South Africa will be randomly assigned within 24 h of giving birth at a primary healthcare clinic to a structured weekly text message plus motivational interviewing and usual standard of care, using a permutation of different block sizes. Criteria for feasibility success will include: five participants recruited per week (over 12 weeks), about 75% of all eligible participants consent for study participation, complete evaluation of outcomes in at least 70% of all recruited participants, breastfeeding adherence rates of at least 70% in the intervention group, six months after delivery. Participants will be evaluated soon after giving birth and post-delivery at weeks 2, 6, 10, and 24. Primary analysis will follow the "intention-to-treat" principle. Sub-group analysis will be used to assess sub-group effects. This pilot trial will evaluate the feasibility of conducting a larger trial on communication and support approaches to improve adherence to breastfeeding by HIV-infected women. Text messaging and motivational interviewing are simple interventions which may allow participants to access personalized adherence advice and support. ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT02949713 . Registered on 26 October 2016; Pan African Clinical Trial Registry PACTR201611001855404 . Registered on 8 November 2016.

  16. Texting preferences in a Paediatric residency.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Draper, Lauren; Kuklinski, Cadence; Ladley, Amy; Adamson, Greg; Broom, Matthew

    2017-12-01

    Text messaging is ubiquitous among residents, but remains an underused educational tool. Though feasibility has been demonstrated, evidence of its ability to improve standardised test scores and provide insight on resident texting preferences is lacking. The authors set out to evaluate: (1) satisfaction with a hybrid question-and-answer (Q&A) texting format; and (2) pre-/post-paediatric in-training exam (ITE) performance. A prospective study with paediatrics and internal medicine-paediatrics residents. Residents were divided into subgroups: adolescent medicine (AM) and developmental medicine (DM). Messages were derived from ITE questions and sent Monday-Friday with a 20 per cent variance in messages specific to the sub-group. Residents completed surveys gauging perceptions of the programme, and pre- and post-programme ITE scores were analysed. Forty-one residents enrolled and 32 (78%) completed a post-programme survey. Of those, 21 (66%) preferred a Q&A format with an immediate text response versus information-only texts. The percentage change in ITE scores between 2013 and 2014 was significant. Comparing subgroups, there was no significant difference between the percentage change in ITE scores. Neither group performed significantly better on either the adolescent or developmental sections of the ITE. Text messaging… remains an underused educational tool CONCLUSIONS: Overall, participants improved their ITE scores, but no improvement was seen in the targeted subgroups on the exam. Although Q&A texts are preferred by residents, further assessment is required to assess the effect on educational outcomes. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd and The Association for the Study of Medical Education.

  17. Future-based Static Analysis of Message Passing Programs

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wytse Oortwijn

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Message passing is widely used in industry to develop programs consisting of several distributed communicating components. Developing functionally correct message passing software is very challenging due to the concurrent nature of message exchanges. Nonetheless, many safety-critical applications rely on the message passing paradigm, including air traffic control systems and emergency services, which makes proving their correctness crucial. We focus on the modular verification of MPI programs by statically verifying concrete Java code. We use separation logic to reason about local correctness and define abstractions of the communication protocol in the process algebra used by mCRL2. We call these abstractions futures as they predict how components will interact during program execution. We establish a provable link between futures and program code and analyse the abstract futures via model checking to prove global correctness. Finally, we verify a leader election protocol to demonstrate our approach.

  18. Supportive text messages for patients with alcohol use disorder and a comorbid depression: a protocol for a single-blind randomised controlled aftercare trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hartnett, Dan; Murphy, Edel; Kehoe, Elizabeth; Agyapong, Vincent; McLoughlin, Declan M; Farren, Conor

    2017-05-29

    Alcohol use disorders (AUDs) and mood disorders commonly co-occur, and are associated with a range of negative outcomes for patients. Mobile phone technology has the potential to provide personalised support for such patients and potentially improve outcomes in this difficult-to-treat cohort. The aim of this study is to examine whether receiving supporting SMS text messages, following discharge from an inpatient dual diagnosis treatment programme, has a positive impact on mood and alcohol abstinence in patients with an AUD and a comorbid mood disorder. The present study is a single-blind randomised controlled trial. Patients aged 18-70 years who meet the criteria for both alcohol dependency syndrome/alcohol abuse and either major depressive disorder or bipolar disorder according to the Structured Clinical Interview for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV Axis I will be randomised to receive twice-daily supportive SMS text messages for 6 months plus treatment as usual, or treatment as usual alone, and will be followed-up at 3, 6, 9 and 12 months postdischarge. Primary outcome measures will include changes from baseline in cumulative abstinence duration, which will be expressed as the proportion of days abstinent from alcohol in the preceding 90 days, and changes from baseline in Beck Depression Inventory scores. The trial has received full ethical approval from the St. Patrick's Hospital Research Ethics Committee (protocol 13/14). Results of the trial will be disseminated through peer-reviewed journal articles and at academic conferences. NCT02404662; Pre-results. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

  19. Secure Media Independent Handover Message Transport in Heterogeneous Networks

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cho Choong-Ho

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available The IEEE 802.21 framework for Media Independent Handover (MIH provides seamless vertical handover support for multimode mobile terminals. MIH messages are exchanged over various wireless media between mobile terminals and access networks to facilitate seamless handover. This calls for the need to secure MIH messages against network security threats in the wireless medium. In this paper, we first analyze IPSec/IKEv2 and DTLS security solution for secure MIH message transport. We show that handover latency can be an impediment to the use of IPSec and DTLS solutions. To overcome the handover overhead and hence minimize authentication time, a new secure MIH message transport solution, referred as MIHSec in this paper, is proposed. Experimental results are obtained for MIH between WLAN and Ethernet networks and the impacts of MIH message security on the handover latency are evaluated for IPSec, DTLS, and MIHSec security solutions. The effectiveness of MIHSec is demonstrated.

  20. UNDERSTANDING OUR AUDIENCE: MESSAGES FROM CONCEPT TO COMPLETION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tharwat EL-Sakran

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available The United Arab Emirates (UAE is a business hub for a great number of multinational and international companies that conduct daily communication activities in English, which has made efficient and audience sensitive written communication an essential requirement in today’s workplace. With computer-mediated communication (CMC taking over face-to-face communication, this has created an essential need for students to learn efficient and appropriate communication styles pertinent to communication via emails. This study presents a pragmatic approach for teaching the how of writing appropriate and effective professional email messages. Comparisons of pre-and post-teaching email messages point to significant improvements in the quality of post teaching email messages.

  1. Access to information technology and willingness to receive text ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Over the past decade, new technologies and methods of communication have ... To determine access to information technology and willingness to receive short message service (SMS) text message reminders for childhood immunisation .... Table 1 shows the attitude of the mothers towards reminders for immunisations.

  2. Access to information technology and willingness to receive text ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Background. Effective communication is imperative for the delivery and receipt of adequate health care services. Aim. To determine access to information technology and willingness to receive short message service (SMS) text message reminders for childhood immunisation services among mothers in Lagos, Nigeria.

  3. PASTE: patient-centered SMS text tagging in a medication management system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stenner, Shane P; Johnson, Kevin B; Denny, Joshua C

    2012-01-01

    To evaluate the performance of a system that extracts medication information and administration-related actions from patient short message service (SMS) messages. Mobile technologies provide a platform for electronic patient-centered medication management. MyMediHealth (MMH) is a medication management system that includes a medication scheduler, a medication administration record, and a reminder engine that sends text messages to cell phones. The object of this work was to extend MMH to allow two-way interaction using mobile phone-based SMS technology. Unprompted text-message communication with patients using natural language could engage patients in their healthcare, but presents unique natural language processing challenges. The authors developed a new functional component of MMH, the Patient-centered Automated SMS Tagging Engine (PASTE). The PASTE web service uses natural language processing methods, custom lexicons, and existing knowledge sources to extract and tag medication information from patient text messages. A pilot evaluation of PASTE was completed using 130 medication messages anonymously submitted by 16 volunteers via a website. System output was compared with manually tagged messages. Verified medication names, medication terms, and action terms reached high F-measures of 91.3%, 94.7%, and 90.4%, respectively. The overall medication name F-measure was 79.8%, and the medication action term F-measure was 90%. Other studies have demonstrated systems that successfully extract medication information from clinical documents using semantic tagging, regular expression-based approaches, or a combination of both approaches. This evaluation demonstrates the feasibility of extracting medication information from patient-generated medication messages.

  4. The effect of automated text messaging and goal setting on pedometer adherence and physical activity in patients with diabetes: A randomized controlled trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Polgreen, Linnea A; Anthony, Christopher; Carr, Lucas; Simmering, Jacob E; Evans, Nicholas J; Foster, Eric D; Segre, Alberto M; Cremer, James F; Polgreen, Philip M

    2018-01-01

    Activity-monitoring devices may increase activity, but their effectiveness in sedentary, diseased, and less-motivated populations is unknown. Subjects with diabetes or pre-diabetes were given a Fitbit and randomized into three groups: Fitbit only, Fitbit with reminders, and Fitbit with both reminders and goal setting. Subjects in the reminders group were sent text-message reminders to wear their Fitbit. The goal-setting group was sent a daily text message asking for a step goal. All subjects had three in-person visits (baseline, 3 and 6 months). We modelled daily steps and goal setting using linear mixed-effects models. 138 subjects participated with 48 in the Fitbit-only, 44 in the reminders, and 46 in the goal-setting groups. Daily steps decreased for all groups during the study. Average daily steps were 7123, 6906, and 6854 for the Fitbit-only, the goal-setting, and the reminders groups, respectively. The reminders group was 17.2 percentage points more likely to wear their Fitbit than the Fitbit-only group. Setting a goal was associated with a significant increase of 791 daily steps, but setting more goals did not lead to step increases. In a population of patients with diabetes or pre-diabetes, individualized reminders to wear their Fitbit and elicit personal step goals did not lead to increases in daily steps, although daily steps were higher on days when goals were set. Our intervention improved engagement and data collection, important goals for activity surveillance. This study demonstrates that new, more-effective interventions for increasing activity in patients with pre-diabetes and diabetes are needed.

  5. An Exploration of the Views of Teachers Concerning the Effects of Texting on Children's Literacy Development

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wray, David

    2015-01-01

    Texting, or text messaging, refers to the use of mobile phones to type and send brief, electronic messages over a telephone network. Because such messages are limited to 160 characters and are typed on a small phone keypad, texters tend to employ a great many abbreviations in conveying their messages. This has led to widespread spelling…

  6. Mobile phone messaging for illicit drug and alcohol dependence: A systematic review of the literature.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tofighi, Babak; Nicholson, Joseph M; McNeely, Jennifer; Muench, Frederick; Lee, Joshua D

    2017-07-01

    Mobile phone use has increased dramatically and concurrent with rapid developments in mobile phone-based health interventions. The integration of text messaging interventions promises to optimise the delivery of care for persons with substance dependence with minimal disruption to clinical workflows. We conducted a systematic review to assess the acceptability, feasibility and clinical impact of text messaging interventions for persons with illicit drug and alcohol dependence. Studies were required to evaluate the use of text messaging as an intervention for persons who met Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition criterion for a diagnosis of illicit drug and/or alcohol dependence. Authors searched for articles published to date in MEDLINE (pubmed.gov), the Cochrane Library, EMBASE, CINAHL, Google Scholar and PsychINFO. Eleven articles met the search criteria for this review and support the acceptability and feasibility of text messaging interventions for addressing illicit drug and alcohol dependence. Most studies demonstrated improved clinical outcomes, medication adherence and engagement with peer support groups. Text messaging interventions also intervened on multiple therapeutic targets such as appointment attendance, motivation, self-efficacy, relapse prevention and social support. Suggestions for future research are described, including intervention design features, clinician contact, privacy measures and integration of behaviour change theories. Text messaging interventions offer a feasible platform to address a range of substances (i.e. alcohol, methamphetamine, heroin and alcohol), and there is increasing evidence supporting further larger-scale studies. [Tofighi B, Nicholson JM, McNeely J, Muench F, Lee JD. Mobile phone messaging for illicit drug and alcohol dependence: A systematic review of the literature. Drug Alcohol Rev 2017;36:477-491]. © 2017 Australasian Professional Society on Alcohol and other Drugs.

  7. SMS texts on corruption help Ugandan voters hold elected councillors accountable at the polls.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buntaine, Mark T; Jablonski, Ryan; Nielson, Daniel L; Pickering, Paula M

    2018-06-11

    Many politicians manipulate information to prevent voters from holding them accountable; however, mobile text messages may make it easier for nongovernmental organizations to credibly share information on official corruption that is difficult for politicians to counter directly. We test the potential for texts on budget management to improve democratic accountability by conducting a large ( n = 16,083) randomized controlled trial during the 2016 Ugandan district elections. In cooperation with a local partner, we compiled, simplified, and text-messaged official information on irregularities in local government budgets. Verified recipients of messages that described more irregularities than expected reported voting for incumbent councillors 6% less often; verified recipients of messages conveying fewer irregularities than expected reported voting for incumbent councillors 5% more often. The messages had no observable effect on votes for incumbent council chairs, potentially due to voters' greater reliance on other sources of information for higher profile elections. These mixed results suggest that text messages on budget corruption help voters hold some politicians accountable in settings where elections are not free and fair. Copyright © 2018 the Author(s). Published by PNAS.

  8. Recruiting pregnant smokers from Text4baby for a randomized controlled trial of Quit4baby.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leavitt, Leah; Abroms, Lorien; Johnson, Pamela; Schindler-Ruwisch, Jennifer; Bushar, Jessica; Singh, Indira; Cleary, Sean D; McInvale, Whitney; Turner, Monique

    2017-06-01

    Recruiting pregnant smokers into clinical trials is challenging since this population tends to be disadvantaged, the behavior is stigmatized, and the intervention window is limited. The purpose of this study is to test the feasibility and effectiveness of recruiting pregnant smokers into a smoking cessation trial by sending recruitment text messages to an existing subscriber list. Recruitment messages were sent to subscribers flagged as pregnant in Text4baby, a national text messaging program for pregnant women and mothers. Four recruitment messages were rotated to test the effectiveness of different emotional frames and a financial incentive. Study staff called subscribers who expressed interest to screen for eligibility and enroll eligible women. Between October 6, 2015 and February 2, 2016, 10,194 recruitment messages were sent to Text4baby subscribers flagged as pregnant, and 10.18% (1038) responded indicating interest. No significant increase in cancellation was observed compared to subscribers who received other ad hoc messages. Of respondents, 54.05% (561) were reached by phone for follow-up, and 21.97% (228) were found to be eligible. Among the eligible, 87% (199) pregnant smokers enrolled. The recruitment message with a pride emotional appeal had a significantly higher response (p = 0.02) compared to the recruitment message with no emotional appeal, but enrollment did not significantly differ between recruitment messages with different emotional appeals. The recruitment messages with a reference to financial incentive yielded higher response (p < 0.01) and enrollment (p = 0.03) compared to a recruitment message without. This study demonstrates success recruiting pregnant smokers using text message. Future studies should consider building on this approach for recruiting high-risk populations.

  9. Upon a Message-Oriented Trading API

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Claudiu VINTE

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, we introduce the premises for a trading system application-programming interface (API based on a message-oriented middleware (MOM, and present the results of our research regarding the design and the implementation of a simulation-trading system employing a service-oriented architecture (SOA and messaging. Our research has been conducted with the aim of creating a simulation-trading platform, within the academic environment, that will provide both the foundation for future experiments with trading systems architectures, components, APIs, and the framework for research on trading strategies, trading algorithm design, and equity markets analysis tools. Mathematics Subject Classification: 68M14 (distributed systems.

  10. Persistence of pain in patients with chronic low back pain reported via weekly automated text messages over one year

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Leboeuf-Yde, Charlotte; Krüger Jensen, Rikke; Wedderkopp, Niels

    2015-01-01

    (Study 1) and the other without any pathological explanation for the pain (Study 2). In both studies, participants were followed over 1 year with weekly automated text messages (SMS-Track). Each week they reported the number of days they had experienced bothersome LBP (0-7 days). The number of weeks......BACKGROUND: A previous study has suggested that it is uncommon for patients with chronic bothersome low back pain (LBP), who consult the secondary health care sector, to report at least four consecutive weeks without such bothersome pain in 1 year. It is not yet known, however, how many days...... of the week they experience pain throughout the year. METHOD: The current study analyzed data collected in two randomized clinical studies conducted in 2007-9 on patients with back pain (Study 1 and 2). Study participants were patients with LBP for more than 2 months, one group with MRI-defined Modic changes...

  11. Uptake of Tailored Text Message Smoking Cessation Support in Pregnancy When Advertised on the Internet (MiQuit): Observational Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Emery, Joanne L; Coleman, Tim; Sutton, Stephen; Cooper, Sue; Leonardi-Bee, Jo; Jones, Matthew; Naughton, Felix

    2018-04-19

    Smoking in pregnancy is a major public health concern. Pregnant smokers are particularly difficult to reach, with low uptake of support options and few effective interventions. Text message-based self-help is a promising, low-cost intervention for this population, but its real-world uptake is largely unknown. The objective of this study was to explore the uptake and cost-effectiveness of a tailored, theory-guided, text message intervention for pregnant smokers ("MiQuit") when advertised on the internet. Links to a website providing MiQuit initiation information (texting a short code) were advertised on a cost-per-click basis on 2 websites (Google Search and Facebook; £1000 budget each) and free of charge within smoking-in-pregnancy webpages on 2 noncommercial websites (National Childbirth Trust and NHS Choices). Daily budgets were capped to allow the Google and Facebook adverts to run for 1 and 3 months, respectively. We recorded the number of times adverts were shown and clicked on, the number of MiQuit initiations, the characteristics of those initiating MiQuit, and whether support was discontinued prematurely. For the commercial adverts, we calculated the cost per initiation and, using quit rates obtained from an earlier clinical trial, estimated the cost per additional quitter. With equal capped budgets, there were 812 and 1889 advert clicks to the MiQuit website from Google (search-based) and Facebook (banner) adverts, respectively. MiQuit was initiated by 5.2% (42/812) of those clicking via Google (95% CI 3.9%-6.9%) and 2.22% (42/1889) of those clicking via Facebook (95% CI 1.65%-2.99%). Adverts on noncommercial webpages generated 53 clicks over 6 months, with 9 initiations (9/53, 17%; 95% CI 9%-30%). For the commercial websites combined, mean cost per initiation was £24.73; estimated cost per additional quitter, including text delivery costs, was £735.86 (95% CI £227.66-£5223.93). Those initiating MiQuit via Google were typically very early in pregnancy

  12. A human language corpus for interstellar message construction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Elliott, John

    2011-02-01

    The aim of HuLCC (the human language chorus corpus), is to provide a resource of sufficient size to facilitate inter-language analysis by incorporating languages from all the major language families: for the first time all aspects of typology will be incorporated within a single corpus, adhering to a consistent grammatical classification and granularity, which historically adopt a plethora of disparate schemes. An added feature will be the inclusion of a common text element, which will be translated across all languages, to provide a precise comparable thread for detailed linguistic analysis for translation strategies and a mechanism by which these mappings can be explicitly achieved. Methods developed to solve unambiguous mappings across these languages can then be adopted for any subsequent message authored by the SETI community. Initially, it is planned to provide at least 20,000 words for each chosen language, as this amount of text exceeds the point where randomly generated text can be disambiguated from natural language and is of sufficient size useful for message transmission [1] (Elliot, 2002). This paper details the design of this resource, which ultimately will be made available to SETI upon its completion, and discusses issues 'core' to any message construction.

  13. Using Text Messaging to Summarize Text

    Science.gov (United States)

    Williams, Angela Ruffin

    2012-01-01

    Summarizing is an academic task that students are expected to have mastered by the time they enter college. However, experience has revealed quite the contrary. Summarization is often difficult to master as well as teach, but instructors in higher education can benefit greatly from the rapid advancement in mobile wireless technology devices, by…

  14. Is self-assessment of medical abortion using a low-sensitivity pregnancy test combined with a checklist and phone text messages feasible in South African primary healthcare settings? A randomized trial.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Deborah Constant

    Full Text Available To evaluate feasibility of self-assessment of medical abortion outcome using a low-sensitivity urine pregnancy test, checklist and text messages. The study assessed whether accurate self-assessment required a demonstration of the low-sensitivity urine pregnancy test or if verbal instructions suffice.This non-inferiority trial enrolled 525 adult women from six public sector abortion clinics. Eligible women were undergoing medical abortion at gestations within 63 days. Consenting women completed a baseline interview, received standard care with mifepristone and home-administration of misoprostol. All were given a low-sensitivity urine pregnancy test and checklist for use 14 days later, sent text reminders, and asked to attend in-clinic follow-up after two weeks. Women were randomly assigned 1:1 to an instruction-only group (n = 262; issued with pre-scripted instructions on the low-sensitivity pregnancy test, or a demonstration group (n = 263; performed practice tests guided by lay health workers. The primary outcome was accurate self-assessment of incomplete abortion, defined as needing additional misoprostol or vacuum aspiration. Analysis was by intention to treat and a non-inferiority margin was set to six percentage points. Women's acceptability of their abortion procedure and preferences for follow-up were also assessed.Follow-up was 81% for abortion outcome, confirmed in-clinic at two weeks or self-reported within six months. Non-inferiority of instruction-only to a demonstration was inconclusive for accurate self-assessment (risk difference for instruction-only -demonstration: -2.5%; 95%CI: -9% to 4%. Comparing instruction-only to demonstration groups, 99% and 100% found the pregnancy test easy to do; and 91% and 93% respectively chose the pregnancy test, checklist and text messages for abortion outcome assessment in the future.Routine self-assessment using a low-sensitivity pregnancy test, checklist and text messages is feasible and

  15. Texting As A Discursive Approach For The Production Of Agricultural Solutions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ronan G. Zagado

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available This paper demonstrates how the short messaging service SMS popularly known as texting has facilitated production of solutions to farm issues using the Farmers Text Centre FTC of the Philippine Rice Research PhilRice as the case study. Text messages registered in the FTC database in 2010 covering one cropping season were discourse analyzed. Interpretive qualitative research particularly the Grounded Theory was employed to interprettheorize said data. Since texting is a new emerging discourse in agricultural development Grounded Theory allows the explication of theoretical accounts that explain its existence and impact. Results indicate that timing queries received within working days from 8am to 5pm get speedy response content the easier the question the faster it gets reply length the shorter the message the better and clarity of the querytext message as well as cultural factors such as greetings and terms of respect are all important governing factors in texting for farm use. Moreover analysis reveals that the series of text messages sent back and forth by farmers and agricultural specialist in FTC suggests a dynamic process of negotiation rather than passive information sharing. The analysis further reveals that texting has allowed farmers to have access to a negotiated knowledge rather than a standard scientific recommendation vis--vis the solution to their farm issues. The term negotiated implies that farmers are actively involved in knowledge production via texting. Textholder is coined in this paper to describe farmers and agricultural specialists as co-creators of knowledge in texting as opposed to their traditional role as knowledge generator and user respectively. From the analysis reflections implications and theoretical contributions are drawn in relation to the value of SMSing in agricultural extension and communication.

  16. Audience reactions and receptivity to HIV prevention message concepts for people living with HIV.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Uhrig, Jennifer D; Bann, Carla M; Wasserman, Jill; Guenther-Grey, Carolyn; Eroğlu, Doğan

    2010-04-01

    This study measured audience reactions and receptivity to five draft HIV prevention messages developed for people living with HIV (PLWH) to inform future HIV message choice and audience targeting decisions. Our premise was that message concepts that receive wide audience appeal constitute a strong starting point for designing future HIV prevention messages, program activities, and health communication and marketing campaigns for PLWH. The majority of participants indicated agreement with evaluative statements that expressed favorable attitudes toward all five of the message concepts we evaluated. Participants gave the lowest approval to the message promoting sero-sorting. Sociodemographic characteristics played less of a role in predicting differences in message perceptions than attitudes, beliefs and sexual behavior. The general appeal for these messages is encouraging given that messages were expressed in plain text without the support of other creative elements that are commonly used in message execution. These results confirm the utility of systematic efforts to generate and screen message concepts prior to large-scale testing.

  17. Text(ing) in Context: The Future of Workplace Communication in the United States

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kiddie, Thomas J.

    2014-01-01

    Following Rogers's theory of the diffusion of innovations, the author questions whether youth entering the workforce will act as change agents to evolve primary business communication channels from email to text-messaging. Expanding on research performed in 2009, the author investigates three communication scenarios: scheduling meetings,…

  18. A behavioral economic analysis of texting while driving: Delay discounting processes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hayashi, Yusuke; Miller, Kimberly; Foreman, Anne M; Wirth, Oliver

    2016-12-01

    The purpose of the present study was to examine an impulsive decision-making process underlying texting while driving from a behavioral economic perspective. A sample of 108 college students completed a novel discounting task that presented participants with a hypothetical scenario in which, after receiving a text message while driving, they rated the likelihood of replying to a text message immediately versus waiting to reply for a specific period of time. Participants also completed a delay discounting task in which they made repeated hypothetical choices between obtaining a larger amount of money available after a delay and an equal or lesser amount of money available immediately. The results show that the duration of the delay is a critical variable that strongly determines whether participants choose to wait to reply to a text message, and that the decrease in the likelihood of waiting as a function of delay is best described by a hyperbolic delay discounting function. The results also show that participants who self-reported higher frequency of texting while driving discounted the opportunity to reply to a text message at greater rates, whereas there was no relation between the rates of discounting of hypothetical monetary rewards and the frequency of texting while driving. The results support the conclusion that texting while driving is fundamentally an impulsive choice. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  19. 'Message in a mobile' : mixed-messages, tales of missing and mobile communities at the University of Khartoum

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Lamoureaux, S.

    2011-01-01

    This detailed, meticulous ethnographic study on mobile phone use among Nuba students at the University of Khartoum in Sudan, distinguishes itself from other studies by taking a focused look at the linguistic content of mobile phone interactions via text-messaging, portraying it as a site for the

  20. New method of steganalysis for text data obtained by synonym run-length encoding

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ivan V. Nechta

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available In this article, we present a new stegoanalysis method for detecting a text obtained by the synonym Run-Length Encoding. The analyzed RLE-method allows us to keep some statistical properties of the text after a secret message embedding. In particular, the probabilities distribution of the bits in the extracted message and the probabilities distribution of using text synonyms keep unchanged, that ensures a high secrecy degree of the considered embedding method. In this paper we show that the embedded message changes the probabilities distribution of bit-series lengths in the extracted message, and this fact is used for our stegoanalysis. It was shown that the embedded message breaks the statistical structure of the container, and this fact is used for the stegoanalysis. The constructed stegotest compares the probability distribution of runs (with length no more than 5 bits in the message extracted from the container with reference distributions corresponding to an empty and embedded containers.  Reference distributions were obtained by analysing of 1000 natural-text containers taken from the Gutenberg Project library. In this paper we consider two approaches for obtaining reference distributions. The first approach deals with analyzing the statistic of the message extracted from the container in the usual way (using the Tyrannosaurus Lex program. The second approach involves an additional decoding of the message in accordance with the analyzed run-length encoding algorithm. Experimental results allow us to assert that the first approach is more effective. The Kullback-Leibler measure is used as a divergence measure of two probability distributions. It was shown that the proposed method makes it possible to detect presence of the secret message in the container with a number of synonyms equal to 500, while false negative error is 1.5% and false positive error is 1.3%. In comparison with the known analogs, the proposed method demonstrates higher

  1. Message-driven factors influencing opening and forwarding of mobile advertising messages

    OpenAIRE

    Sanz Blas, Silvia; Ruiz Mafé, Carla; Martí Parreño, José

    2015-01-01

    This work aims to analyse the influence of message-driven factors -informativeness, ubiquity, frequency and personalization- on consumer attitude and behaviour -opening and forwarding- towards mobile advertising messages. A theoretical model was developed and empirically tested using a sample of 355 Spanish teenager mobile users. Findings show that frequency is the dimension accounting the most -and significantly- of the four message-driven factors analysed on attitude toward mobile advertisi...

  2. Electronic folklore among teenagers: SMS messages

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cvjetićanin Tijana

    2006-01-01

    Full Text Available The development of ICT media made way for a new form of folklore communication. Newly developed media, such as mobile phones, make it possible for their users to participate in electronically mediated communication, thus approaching the form of oral communication. The exchange of special type of SMS text messages represents a new way of transmitting contemporary folklore short forms. These messages use poetic language, they have standard style themes, patterns and formulas, and they form different genres and categories corresponding with already existing familiar folklore forms. The communication process that happens during the exchange of these messages also has folklore’s characteristics: it takes place within small groups, the communication is informal, the texts circulate in chain style, and undergo different transformation which generates the making of variants, etc. This form of electronic folklore is especially popular among teenagers, where it’s social functions and meanings are also most emphasized. Within this population, it adds to an older tradition of children’s written folklore poetry albums. Like poetry albums, SMS exchange influences the development of girls’ gender identity, providing also a socially defined channel for contacts between the sexes. It also functions as a mechanism of socialization and stratification within the group. At the same time, it creates a new field of meaning, which derives from the very media’s novelty and significance. In this sense, the exchange of SMS represents a symbolic act of acknowledging one’s belonging to the group of mobile telephone users. In this way, a new phenomenon is being symbolically processed through a new form of folklore.

  3. Stepwise strategy to improve Cervical Cancer Screening Adherence (SCAN-CC): automated text messages, phone calls and face-to-face interviews: protocol of a population-based randomised controlled trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Firmino-Machado, João; Mendes, Romeu; Moreira, Amélia; Lunet, Nuno

    2017-10-05

    Screening is highly effective for cervical cancer prevention and control. Population-based screening programmes are widely implemented in high-income countries, although adherence is often low. In Portugal, just over half of the women adhere to cervical cancer screening, contributing for greater mortality rates than in other European countries. The most effective adherence raising strategies are based on patient reminders, small/mass media and face-to-face educational programmes, but sequential interventions targeting the general population have seldom been evaluated. The aim of this study is to assess the effectiveness of a stepwise approach, with increasing complexity and cost, to improve adherence to organised cervical cancer screening: step 1a-customised text message invitation; step 1b-customised automated phone call invitation; step 2-secretary phone call; step 3-family health professional phone call and face-to-face appointment. A population-based randomised controlled trial will be implemented in Portuguese urban and rural areas. Women eligible for cervical cancer screening will be randomised (1:1) to intervention and control. In the intervention group, women will be invited for screening through text messages, automated phone calls, manual phone calls and health professional appointments, to be applied sequentially to participants remaining non-adherent after each step. Control will be the standard of care (written letter). The primary outcome is the proportion of women adherent to screening after step 1 or sequences of steps from 1 to 3. The secondary outcomes are: proportion of women screened after each step (1a, 2 and 3); proportion of text messages/phone calls delivered; proportion of women previously screened in a private health institution who change to organised screening. The intervention and control groups will be compared based on intention-to-treat and per-protocol analyses. The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Northern Health

  4. Towards a context-aware multi-channel messaging model for African banks: preliminary investigations

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Salami, O

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available Technological advancements have provided Banks several means of sending messages to their customers. In the context of business-to-customer interaction, Single Channel Messaging (SCM) model is prominently used by most Banks in Africa. SCM...

  5. Geocoding location expressions in Twitter messages: A preference learning method

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wei Zhang

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available Resolving location expressions in text to the correct physical location, also known as geocoding or grounding, is complicated by the fact that so many places around the world share the same name. Correct resolution is made even more difficult when there is little context to determine which place is intended, as in a 140-character Twitter message, or when location cues from different sources conflict, as may be the case among different metadata fields of a Twitter message. We used supervised machine learning to weigh the different fields of the Twitter message and the features of a world gazetteer to create a model that will prefer the correct gazetteer candidate to resolve the extracted expression. We evaluated our model using the F1 measure and compared it to similar algorithms. Our method achieved results higher than state-of-the-art competitors.

  6. When message-frame fits salient cultural-frame, messages feel more persuasive

    OpenAIRE

    Uskul, Ayse K.; Oyserman, Daphna

    2010-01-01

    The present study examines the persuasive effects of tailored health messages comparing those tailored to match (versus not match) both chronic cultural frame and momentarily salient cultural frame. Evidence from two studies (Study 1: n = 72 European Americans; Study 2: n = 48 Asian Americans) supports the hypothesis that message persuasiveness increases when chronic cultural frame, health message tailoring and momentarily salient cultural frame all match. The hypothesis was tested using a me...

  7. Placement Design of Changeable Message Signs on Curved Roadways

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zhongren Wang, Ph.D. P.E. T.E.

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper presented a fundamental framework for Changeable Message Sign (CMS placement design along roadways with horizontal curves. This analytical framework determines the available distance for motorists to read and react to CMS messages based on CMS character height, driver's cone of vision, CMS pixel's cone of legibility, roadway horizontal curve radius, and CMS lateral and vertical placement. Sample design charts were developed to illustrate how the analytical framework may facilitate CMS placement design.

  8. Messages Are Everywhere: Reading Perceptions, Habits, and Preferences of Undergraduates

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nadelson, Louis S.; Villagómez, Amanda; Konkol, Danielle; Haskell, Chris; McCulley, Meleah; Campbell, Denise

    2013-01-01

    As society continues to evolve, so do the methods that are used for text-based communication. Electronic books, mobile phone text messaging, and an array of internet-based texts are now combined with traditional print forms of text, broadly expanding text-based communication. However, student perceptions of reading may still be limited to…

  9. Is self-assessment of medical abortion using a low-sensitivity pregnancy test combined with a checklist and phone text messages feasible in South African primary healthcare settings? A randomized trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Constant, Deborah; Harries, Jane; Daskilewicz, Kristen; Myer, Landon; Gemzell-Danielsson, Kristina

    2017-01-01

    To evaluate feasibility of self-assessment of medical abortion outcome using a low-sensitivity urine pregnancy test, checklist and text messages. The study assessed whether accurate self-assessment required a demonstration of the low-sensitivity urine pregnancy test or if verbal instructions suffice. This non-inferiority trial enrolled 525 adult women from six public sector abortion clinics. Eligible women were undergoing medical abortion at gestations within 63 days. Consenting women completed a baseline interview, received standard care with mifepristone and home-administration of misoprostol. All were given a low-sensitivity urine pregnancy test and checklist for use 14 days later, sent text reminders, and asked to attend in-clinic follow-up after two weeks. Women were randomly assigned 1:1 to an instruction-only group (n = 262; issued with pre-scripted instructions on the low-sensitivity pregnancy test), or a demonstration group (n = 263; performed practice tests guided by lay health workers). The primary outcome was accurate self-assessment of incomplete abortion, defined as needing additional misoprostol or vacuum aspiration. Analysis was by intention to treat and a non-inferiority margin was set to six percentage points. Women's acceptability of their abortion procedure and preferences for follow-up were also assessed. Follow-up was 81% for abortion outcome, confirmed in-clinic at two weeks or self-reported within six months. Non-inferiority of instruction-only to a demonstration was inconclusive for accurate self-assessment (risk difference for instruction-only -demonstration: -2.5%; 95%CI: -9% to 4%). Comparing instruction-only to demonstration groups, 99% and 100% found the pregnancy test easy to do; and 91% and 93% respectively chose the pregnancy test, checklist and text messages for abortion outcome assessment in the future. Routine self-assessment using a low-sensitivity pregnancy test, checklist and text messages is feasible and preferred by women

  10. Textese and use of texting by children with typical language development and Specific Language Impairment

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Blom, E.; van Dijk, C.; Vasić, N.; van Witteloostuijn, M.; Avrutin, S.

    The purpose of this study was to investigate texting and textese, which is the special register used for sending brief text messages, across children with typical development (TD) and children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI). Using elicitation techniques, texting and spoken language messages

  11. Textese and use of texting by children with typical language development and Specific Language Impairment

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Blom, W.B.T.; van Dijk, Chantal; Vasic, Nada; van Witteloostuijn, Merel; Avrutin, S.

    2017-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to investigate texting and textese, which is the special register used for sending brief text messages, across children with typical development (TD) and children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI). Using elicitation techniques, texting and spoken language messages

  12. Texting literacies as social practices among older women

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dyers, Charlyn

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available While many studies on mobile messaging have tended to focus on the communicative practices of the urban young, this paper considers the role of mobile messaging (also called texting both as a social practice as well as a form of literacy enhancement among a group of older working class women between the ages of 50 and 80 in a Cape Town township. The paper examines how these women, with little or no formal education, acquire this form of literacy, as well as the purposes for which they use texting. It also explores how this form of late-modern communication is adding to four of their existing or developing literacies – text, numeracy, visual and personal. The paper therefore adopts a multiliteracies approach within the context of portable literacies.

  13. EMI Messaging Guidelines

    CERN Document Server

    Cons, L.

    2011-01-01

    Guidelines for potential users of messaging within EMI. The goal is to provide enough practical information so that EMI product teams can start investigating whether using messaging in their products can be beneficial or not.

  14. Hashtag (# as Message Identity in Virtual Community

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Urip Mulyadi

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available Computer Mediated Communication or CMC is able to present a virtual community, where the people inside have the same interest to share information related to events, activities, competitions, entertainment, history, event and others in Semarang City for publication. This research attempted to describe that hashtags can be utilized as the identity of a message in a communications network on Facebook Group MIK Semar. The results of this study are hashtags have changed how we build a virtual community, as the use of hashtags in Facebook Group MIK SEMAR as message identity to build better relationship and support communication among its members.

  15. A clinician's artificial organ? Instant messaging applications in medical care.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tazegul, Gokhan; Bozoglan, Humeyra; Ogut, Tahir S; Balcı, Mustafa K

    2017-09-15

    After the development of the first phone at the end of 19th century, communication technologies took a great leap forward in the 20th century. With the birth of the "smartphone" in the 21st century, communication technologies exponentially evolved and became an important part of our daily routine. Effective communications between clinicians is critical in medical care and miscommunications are a source of errors. Although telecommunication technologies have proliferated dramatically in the last decade, there is scarce evidence-based information on the use of this technology in medical care. For the purposes of medical communication, we can now consult each other about patients individually and within a group via instant messaging applications by using text messages, photos, audio messages and even videos. In this review, we examine the uses and drawbacks of instant messaging applications in medical communications.

  16. Analyzing repeated data collected by mobile phones and frequent text messages. An example of Low back pain measured weekly for 18 weeks

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Axén Iben

    2012-07-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Repeated data collection is desirable when monitoring fluctuating conditions. Mobile phones can be used to gather such data from large groups of respondents by sending and receiving frequently repeated short questions and answers as text messages. The analysis of repeated data involves some challenges. Vital issues to consider are the within-subject correlation, the between measurement occasion correlation and the presence of missing values. The overall aim of this commentary is to describe different methods of analyzing repeated data. It is meant to give an overview for the clinical researcher in order for complex outcome measures to be interpreted in a clinically meaningful way. Methods A model data set was formed using data from two clinical studies, where patients with low back pain were followed with weekly text messages for 18 weeks. Different research questions and analytic approaches were illustrated and discussed, as well as the handling of missing data. In the applications the weekly outcome “number of days with pain” was analyzed in relation to the patients’ “previous duration of pain” (categorized as more or less than 30 days in the previous year. Research questions with appropriate analytical methods 1: How many days with pain do patients experience? This question was answered with data summaries. 2: What is the proportion of participants “recovered” at a specific time point? This question was answered using logistic regression analysis. 3: What is the time to recovery? This question was answered using survival analysis, illustrated in Kaplan-Meier curves, Proportional Hazard regression analyses and spline regression analyses. 4: How is the repeatedly measured data associated with baseline (predictor variables? This question was answered using generalized Estimating Equations, Poisson regression and Mixed linear models analyses. 5: Are there subgroups of patients with similar courses of pain

  17. Youth Texting: Help or Hindrance to Literacy?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zebroff, Dmitri

    2018-01-01

    An extensive amount of research has been performed in recent years into the widespread practice of text messaging in youth. As part of this broad area of research, the associations between youth texting and literacy have been investigated in a variety of contexts. A comprehensive, semi-systematic review of the literature into texting and literacy…

  18. Addressing medication nonadherence by mobile phone: development and delivery of tailored messages.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gatwood, Justin; Balkrishnan, Rajesh; Erickson, Steven R; An, Lawrence C; Piette, John D; Farris, Karen B

    2014-01-01

    Medication nonadherence remains a significant public health problem, and efforts to improve adherence have shown only limited impact. The tailoring of messages has become a popular method of developing communication to influence specific health-related behaviors but the development and impact of tailored text messages on medication use is poorly understood. The aim of this paper is to describe an approach to developing theory-based tailored messages for delivery via mobile phone to improve medication adherence among patients with diabetes. Kreuter's five-step tailoring process was followed to create tailored messages for mobile phone delivery. Two focus group sessions, using input from 11 people, and expert review of message content were used to adapt the survey instrument on which the messages were tailored and edit the developed messages for the target population. Following established tailoring methods a library of 168 theory-driven and 128 medication-specific tailored messages were developed and formatted for automated delivery to mobile phones. Concepts from the Health Belief Model and Self-Determination Theory were used to craft the messages and an algorithm was applied to determine the order and timing of messages with the aim of progressively influencing disease and treatment-related beliefs driving adherence to diabetes medication. The process described may be applied to future investigations aiming to improve medication adherence in patients with diabetes and the effectiveness of the current messages will be tested in a planned analysis. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  19. A comparison of two delivery modalities of a mobile phone-based assessment for serious mental illness: native smartphone application vs text-messaging only implementations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ainsworth, John; Palmier-Claus, Jasper E; Machin, Matthew; Barrowclough, Christine; Dunn, Graham; Rogers, Anne; Buchan, Iain; Barkus, Emma; Kapur, Shitij; Wykes, Til; Hopkins, Richard S; Lewis, Shôn

    2013-04-05

    Mobile phone-based assessment may represent a cost-effective and clinically effective method of monitoring psychotic symptoms in real-time. There are several software options, including the use of native smartphone applications and text messages (short message service, SMS). Little is known about the strengths and limitations of these two approaches in monitoring symptoms in individuals with serious mental illness. The objective of this study was to compare two different delivery modalities of the same diagnostic assessment for individuals with non-affective psychosis-a native smartphone application employing a graphical, touch user interface against an SMS text-only implementation. The overall hypothesis of the study was that patient participants with sewrious mental illness would find both delivery modalities feasible and acceptable to use, measured by the quantitative post-assessment feedback questionnaire scores, the number of data points completed, and the time taken to complete the assessment. It was also predicted that a native smartphone application would (1) yield a greater number of data points, (2) take less time, and (3) be more positively appraised by patient participant users than the text-based system. A randomized repeated measures crossover design was employed. Participants with currently treated Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (Fourth Edition) schizophrenia or related disorders (n=24) were randomly allocated to completing 6 days of assessment (four sets of questions per day) with a native smartphone application or the SMS text-only implementation. There was then a 1-week break before completing a further 6 days with the alternative delivery modality. Quantitative feedback questionnaires were administered at the end of each period of sampling. A greater proportion of data points were completed with the native smartphone application in comparison to the SMS text-only implementation (β = -.25, SE=.11, P=.02), which also took significantly less

  20. Message Received: Virtual Ethnography in Online Message Boards

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kevin F. Steinmetz

    2012-02-01

    Full Text Available As the Internet begins to encapsulate more people within online communities, it is important that the social researcher have well-rounded ethnographic methodologies for observing these phenomena. This article seeks to contribute to methodology by detailing and providing insights into three specific facets of virtual ethnography that need attention: space and time, identity and authenticity, and ethics. Because the Internet is a globalized and instantaneous medium where space and time collapse, identity becomes more playful, and ethics become more tenuous; understanding these aspects is crucial to the study of online social groups. A second focus of this article is to apply these notions to the study of online message boards—a frequently used medium for online communication that is frequently overlooked by methodologists.

  1. Positive mood can increase or decrease message scrutiny: the hedonic contingency view of mood and message processing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wegener, D T; Petty, R E; Smith, S M

    1995-07-01

    Currently dominant explanations of mood effects on persuasive message processing (i.e., cognitive capacity and feelings as information) predict that happy moods lead to less message scrutiny than neutral or sad moods. The hedonic contingency view (D. T. Wegener & R. E. Petty, 1994) predicts that happy moods can sometimes be associated with greater message processing activity because people in a happy mood are more attentive than neutral or sad people to the hedonic consequences of their actions. Consistent with this view, Experiment 1 finds that a happy mood can lead to greater message scrutiny than a neutral mood when the message is not mood threatening. Experiment 2 finds that a happy mood leads to greater message scrutiny than a sad mood when an uplifting message is encountered, but to less message scrutiny when a depressing message is encountered.

  2. Effectiveness of a Social Marketing Campaign Promoting Use of a Sexual Health Text Service by Teens.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Willoughby, Jessica Fitts

    2015-01-01

    Sexual health text message services are becoming an increasingly popular way to provide adolescents with accurate sexual health information, but promotion of such services is often limited. This study uses three quantitative methods (service use data, a text message-based questionnaire, and an in-school online survey) to assess the effectiveness of an in-school social marketing campaign promoting a sexual health text message service that connects teens directly with a health educator. The 3-month campaign was associated with increased service use, but use was still relatively low. Follow-up qualitative work that included focus groups and interviews found a number of barriers to use. Teens indicated they did not have sexual health questions, did not think of the service, or were unsure how to use it. Teens also brought up additional barriers such as concern over parents seeing the messages. Implications for text message service providers and health educators are discussed.

  3. CDC MessageWorks: Designing and Validating a Social Marketing Tool to Craft and Defend Effective Messages.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cole, Galen E; Keller, Punam A; Reynolds, Jennifer; Schaur, Michelle; Krause, Diane

    2016-03-01

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Division of Cancer Prevention and Control, in partnership with Oak Ridge Associated Universities, designed an online social marketing strategy tool, MessageWorks, to help health communicators effectively formulate messages aimed at changing health behaviors and evaluate message tactics and audience characteristics. MessageWorks is based on the advisor for risk communication model that identifies 10 variables that can be used to predict target audience intentions to comply with health recommendations. This article discusses the value of the MessageWorks tool to health communicators and to the field of social marketing by (1) describing the scientific evidence supporting use of MessageWorks to improve health communication practice and (2) summarizing how to use MessageWorks and interpret the results it produces.

  4. A validity study of self-reported daily texting frequency, cell phone characteristics, and texting styles among young adults.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gold, Judith E; Rauscher, Kimberly J; Zhu, Motao

    2015-04-02

    Texting is associated with adverse health effects including musculoskeletal disorders, sleep disturbances, and traffic crashes. Many studies have relied on self-reported texting frequency, yet the validity of self-reports is unknown. Our objective was to provide some of the first data on the validity of self-reported texting frequency, cell phone characteristics including input device (e.g. touchscreen), key configuration (e.g., QWERTY), and texting styles including phone orientation (e.g., horizontal) and hands holding the phone while texting. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire and observation of a texting task among college students ages 18 to 24. To gauge agreement between self-reported and phone bill-derived categorical number of daily text messages sent, we calculated percent of agreement, Spearman correlation coefficient, and a linear weighted kappa statistic. For agreement between self-reported and observed cell phone characteristics and texting styles we calculated percentages of agreement. We used chi-square tests to detect significant differences (α = 0.05) by gender and study protocol. There were 106 participants; 87 of which had complete data for texting frequency analyses. Among these 87, there was 26% (95% CI: 21-31) agreement between self-reported and phone bill-derived number of daily text messages sent with a Spearman's rho of 0.48 and a weighted kappa of 0.17 (95% CI: 0.06-0.27). Among those who did not accurately report the number of daily texts sent, 81% overestimated this number. Among the full sample (n = 106), there was high agreement between self-reported and observed texting input device (96%, 95% CI: 91-99), key configuration (89%, 95% CI: 81-94), and phone orientation while texting (93%, 95% CI: 86-97). No differences were found by gender or study protocol among any items. While young adults correctly reported their cell phone's characteristics and phone orientation while texting, most incorrectly

  5. Reaching rural women: breast cancer prevention information seeking behaviors and interest in Internet, cell phone, and text use.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kratzke, Cynthia; Wilson, Susan; Vilchis, Hugo

    2013-02-01

    The purpose of this study was to examine the breast cancer prevention information seeking behaviors among rural women, the prevalence of Internet, cell, and text use, and interest to receive breast cancer prevention information cell and text messages. While growing literature for breast cancer information sources supports the use of the Internet, little is known about breast cancer prevention information seeking behaviors among rural women and mobile technology. Using a cross-sectional study design, data were collected using a survey. McGuire's Input-Ouput Model was used as the framework. Self-reported data were obtained from a convenience sample of 157 women with a mean age of 60 (SD = 12.12) at a rural New Mexico imaging center. Common interpersonal information sources were doctors, nurses, and friends and common channel information sources were television, magazines, and Internet. Overall, 87% used cell phones, 20% had an interest to receive cell phone breast cancer prevention messages, 47% used text messaging, 36% had an interest to receive text breast cancer prevention messages, and 37% had an interest to receive mammogram reminder text messages. Bivariate analysis revealed significant differences between age, income, and race/ethnicity and use of cell phones or text messaging. There were no differences between age and receiving text messages or text mammogram reminders. Assessment of health information seeking behaviors is important for community health educators to target populations for program development. Future research may identify additional socio-cultural differences.

  6. An analysis of patient-provider secure messaging at two Veterans Health Administration medical centers: message content and resolution through secure messaging.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shimada, Stephanie L; Petrakis, Beth Ann; Rothendler, James A; Zirkle, Maryan; Zhao, Shibei; Feng, Hua; Fix, Gemmae M; Ozkaynak, Mustafa; Martin, Tracey; Johnson, Sharon A; Tulu, Bengisu; Gordon, Howard S; Simon, Steven R; Woods, Susan S

    2017-09-01

    We sought to understand how patients and primary care teams use secure messaging (SM) to communicate with one another by analyzing secure message threads from 2 Department of Veterans Affairs facilities. We coded 1000 threads of SM communication sampled from 40 primary care teams. Most threads (94.5%) were initiated by patients (90.4%) or caregivers (4.1%); only 5.5% were initiated by primary care team members proactively reaching out to patients. Medication renewals and refills (47.2%), scheduling requests (17.6%), medication issues (12.9%), and health issues (12.7%) were the most common patient-initiated requests, followed by referrals (7.0%), administrative issues (6.5%), test results (5.4%), test issues (5.2%), informing messages (4.9%), comments about the patient portal or SM (4.1%), appreciation (3.9%), self-reported data (2.8%), life issues (1.5%), and complaints (1.5%). Very few messages were clinically urgent (0.7%) or contained other potentially challenging content. Message threads were mostly short (2.7 messages), comprising an average of 1.35 discrete content types. A substantial proportion of issues (24.2%) did not show any evidence of being resolved through SM. Time to response and extent of resolution via SM varied by message content. Proactive SM use by teams varied, but was most often for test results (32.7%), medication-related issues (21.8%), medication renewals (16.4%), or scheduling issues (18.2%). The majority of messages were transactional and initiated by patients or caregivers. Not all content categories were fully addressed over SM. Further education and training for both patients and clinical teams could improve the quality and efficiency of SM communication. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Medical Informatics Association 2017. This work is written by US Government employees and is in the public domain in the United States.

  7. Diffusion of Messages from an Electronic Cigarette Brand to Potential Users through Twitter.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kar-Hai Chu

    Full Text Available This study explores the presence and actions of an electronic cigarette (e-cigarette brand, Blu, on Twitter to observe how marketing messages are sent and diffused through the retweet (i.e., message forwarding functionality. Retweet networks enable messages to reach additional Twitter users beyond the sender's local network. We follow messages from their origin through multiple retweets to identify which messages have more reach, and the different users who are exposed.We collected three months of publicly available data from Twitter. A combination of techniques in social network analysis and content analysis were applied to determine the various networks of users who are exposed to e-cigarette messages and how the retweet network can affect which messages spread.The Blu retweet network expanded during the study period. Analysis of user profiles combined with network cluster analysis showed that messages of certain topics were only circulated within a community of e-cigarette supporters, while other topics spread further, reaching more general Twitter users who may not support or use e-cigarettes.Retweet networks can serve as proxy filters for marketing messages, as Twitter users decide which messages they will continue to diffuse among their followers. As certain e-cigarette messages extend beyond their point of origin, the audience being exposed expands beyond the e-cigarette community. Potential implications for health education campaigns include utilizing Twitter and targeting important gatekeepers or hubs that would maximize message diffusion.

  8. Development of a Social DTN for Message Communication between SNS Group Members

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hidenori Takasuka

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available Smartphones have the ability to communicate with other terminals through ad hoc connections. A variety of applications have been developed to exploit this ability. The authors have developed an Android OS (operating system application (called “social DTN manager” that builds a DTN (delay, disruption, disconnection tolerant networking among members of a social networking service (SNS community using a community token. The members can exchange messages over this network. Control messages for building a DTN are forwarded to only those nodes that use the same community token in order to reduce flooding of message copies. When a source node sends a communication request to its destination node, they exchange control messages to establish a communication route. Relay nodes use these messages to create and hold routing information for these nodes in their routing tables. Thereafter, relay nodes can forward data messages based on their routing tables. This again reduces flooding of message copies. The social DTN manager incorporates these functions, Facebook Graph API and Google Nearby Connections API. The authors have installed it in Android terminals and confirmed that a social DTN can successfully be built using this application and that data messages can be exchanged between terminals via reactive routes.

  9. Use of mobile phones and text messaging to decrease the turnaround time for early infant HIV diagnosis and notification in rural Zambia: an observational study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sutcliffe, Catherine G; Thuma, Philip E; van Dijk, Janneke H; Sinywimaanzi, Kathy; Mweetwa, Sydney; Hamahuwa, Mutinta; Moss, William J

    2017-03-08

    Early infant diagnosis of HIV infection is challenging in rural sub-Saharan Africa as blood samples are sent to central laboratories for HIV DNA testing, leading to delays in diagnosis and treatment initiation. Simple technologies to rapidly deliver results to clinics and notify mothers of test results would decrease many of these delays. The feasibility of using mobile phones to contact mothers was evaluated. In addition, the first two years of implementation of a national short message service (SMS) reporting system to deliver test results from the laboratory to the clinic were evaluated. The study was conducted in Macha, Zambia from 2013 to 2015 among mothers of HIV-exposed infants. Mothers were interviewed about mobile phone use and willingness to be contacted directly or through their rural health center. Mothers were contacted according to their preferred method of communication when test results were available. Mothers of positive infants were asked to return to the clinic as soon as possible. Dates of sample collection, delivery of test results to the clinic and notification of mothers were documented in addition to test results. Four hundred nineteen mothers and infants were enrolled. Only 30% of mothers had ever used a mobile phone. 96% of mobile phone owners were reached by study staff and 98% of mothers without mobile phones were contacted through their rural health center. Turnaround times for mothers of positive infants were approximately 2 weeks shorter than for mothers of negative infants. Delivery of test results by the national SMS system improved from 2013 to 2014, with increases in the availability of texted results (38 vs. 91%) and arrival of the texted result prior to the hardcopy report (27 vs. 83%). Texted results arriving at the clinic before the hardcopy were received a median of 19 days earlier. Four discrepancies between texted and hardcopy results were identified out of 340 tests. Mobile phone and text messaging technology has the

  10. A secure transmission scheme of streaming media based on the encrypted control message

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Bing; Jin, Zhigang; Shu, Yantai; Yu, Li

    2007-09-01

    As the use of streaming media applications increased dramatically in recent years, streaming media security becomes an important presumption, protecting the privacy. This paper proposes a new encryption scheme in view of characteristics of streaming media and the disadvantage of the living method: encrypt the control message in the streaming media with the high security lever and permute and confuse the data which is non control message according to the corresponding control message. Here the so-called control message refers to the key data of the streaming media, including the streaming media header and the header of the video frame, and the seed key. We encrypt the control message using the public key encryption algorithm which can provide high security lever, such as RSA. At the same time we make use of the seed key to generate key stream, from which the permutation list P responding to GOP (group of picture) is derived. The plain text of the non-control message XORs the key stream and gets the middle cipher text. And then obtained one is permutated according to P. In contrast the decryption process is the inverse process of the above. We have set up a testbed for the above scheme and found our scheme is six to eight times faster than the conventional method. It can be applied not only between PCs but also between handheld devices.

  11. RECOGNIZING REFERENCES TO PHYSICAL PLACES INSIDE SHORT TEXTS BY USING PATTERNS AS A SEQUENCE OF GRAMMATICAL CATEGORIES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. Romero

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available Collecting data by crowdsourcing is an explored trend to support database population and update. This kind of data is unstructured and comes from text, in particular text in social networks. Geographic database is a particular case of database that can be populated by crowdsourcing which can be done when people report some urban event in a social network by writing a short message. An event can describe an accident or a non-functioning device in the urban area. The authorities then need to read and to interpret the message to provide some help for injured people or to fix a problem in a device installed in the urban area like a light or a problem on road. Our main interest is located on working with short messages organized in a collection. Most of the messages do not have geographical coordinates. The messages can then be classified by text patterns describing a location. In fact, people use a text pattern to describe an urban location. Our work tries to identify patterns inside a short text and to indicate when it describes a location. When a pattern is identified our approach look to describe the place where the event is located. The source messages used are tweets reporting events from several Mexican cities.

  12. Analyzing repeated data collected by mobile phones and frequent text messages. An example of Low back pain measured weekly for 18 weeks

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Axén, Iben; Bodin, Lennart; Kongsted, Alice

    2012-01-01

    to recovery? This question was answered using survival analysis, illustrated in Kaplan-Meier curves, Proportional Hazard regression analyses and spline regression analyses. 4: How is the repeatedly measured data associated with baseline (predictor) variables? This question was answered using generalized...... involves some challenges. Vital issues to consider are the within-subject correlation, the between measurement occasion correlation and the presence of missing values. The overall aim of this commentary is to describe different methods of analyzing repeated data. It is meant to give an overview...... for the clinical researcher in order for complex outcome measures to be interpreted in a clinically meaningful way. METHODS: A model data set was formed using data from two clinical studies, where patients with low back pain were followed with weekly text messages for 18 weeks. Different research questions...

  13. CDC MessageWorks: Designing and Validating a Social Marketing Tool to Craft and Defend Effective Messages

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cole, Galen E.; Keller, Punam A.; Reynolds, Jennifer; Schaur, Michelle; Krause, Diane

    2016-01-01

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Division of Cancer Prevention and Control, in partnership with Oak Ridge Associated Universities, designed an online social marketing strategy tool, MessageWorks, to help health communicators effectively formulate messages aimed at changing health behaviors and evaluate message tactics and audience characteristics. MessageWorks is based on the advisor for risk communication model that identifies 10 variables that can be used to predict target audience intentions to comply with health recommendations. This article discusses the value of the MessageWorks tool to health communicators and to the field of social marketing by (1) describing the scientific evidence supporting use of MessageWorks to improve health communication practice and (2) summarizing how to use MessageWorks and interpret the results it produces. PMID:26877714

  14. The Effectiveness of Text Messaging for Detection and Management of Hypertension in Indigenous People in Canada: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yeates, Karen; Campbell, Norm; Maar, Marion A; Perkins, Nancy; Liu, Peter; Sleeth, Jessica; Smith, Carter; McAllister, Colin; Hua-Stewart, Diane; Wells, George; Tobe, Sheldon W

    2017-12-19

    Hypertension, the leading cause of morbidity and mortality, affects more than 1 billion people and is responsible globally for 10 million deaths annually. Hypertension can be controlled on a national level; in Canada, for example, awareness, treatment, and control improved dramatically from only 16% in 1990 to 66% currently. The ongoing development, dissemination, and implementation of Hypertension Canada's clinical practice guidelines is considered to be responsible, in part, for achieving these high levels of control and the associated improvements in cardiovascular outcomes. A gap still exists between the evidence and the implementation of hypertension guidelines in Indigenous communities in Canada, as well as in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The rapid rise in the ownership and use of mobile phones globally and the potential for texting (short message service, SMS) to improve health literacy and to link the health team together with the patient served as a rationale for the Dream-Global study in both Canada and Tanzania. The primary objective of the Dream-Global study is to assess the effect of innovative technologies and changes in health services delivery on blood pressure (BP) control of Indigenous people in Canada and rural Tanzanians with hypertension using SMS messages and community BP measurement through task shifting with transfer of the measures electronically to the patient and the health care team members. This prospective, randomized blinded allocation study enrolls both adults with uncontrolled hypertension (medicated or unmedicated) and those without hypertension but at high risk of developing this condition who participate in a BP screening study. Participants will be followed for at least 12 months. The primary efficacy endpoint in this study will be assessed by analysis of variance. Descriptive data will be given with the mean and standard deviation for continuous data and proportions for ordinal data. Exploratory subgroup analyses

  15. Design and Implementation of a Wireless Message Display System

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. U. M. Bakura

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available The technology of displaying message is an important part of communication and advertisement. In recent times, Wireless communication has announced its arrival on big stage and the world is going with Smartphone technology. This work describes the design and implementation of a microcontroller based messaging display system. The messaging display system will be interfaced with an android application which will then be used to display information from the comfort of one‘s phone to an LCD screen using the Bluetooth application interface. The work employs the use of an ATMEGA328p Microcontroller mounted on an Arduino board, a Bluetooth Module (HC-06 and an LCD screen. Most of these electronic display systems were using wired cable connections, the Bluetooth technology used in this work is aimed at solving the problem of wired cable connections.The microcontroller provides all the functionality of the display notices and wireless control. A desired text message from a mobile phone is sent via android mobile application to the Bluetooth module located at the receiving end. The Mobile Application was created using online software called App Inventor. When the entire system was connected and tested, it functioned as designed without any noticeable problems. The Bluetooth module responded to commands being sent from the android application appropriately and in a timely manner. The system was able to display 80 characters on the 4 x 20 LCD within the range of 10m as designated by the Bluetooth datasheet.

  16. Influencing Health Behaviors via Short Message Service (SMS): Evidence for Best Practices From Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania and Xi’an China

    OpenAIRE

    Heitner, Jesse

    2016-01-01

    Text messaging, also known as short message services (SMS), is a burgeoning innovation area showing promise in eliciting health behavior changes. This dissertation details two intervention trials that each comparatively tests the efficacy of different text message sets intended to improve behaviors. In light of pervasive road traffic injuries amongst young men in Tanzania, the first intervention tested messaging strategies aimed at increasing helmet wearing amongst commercial motorcycle t...

  17. Perancangan dan Implementasi Sistem Informasi Layanan Short Messaging Service (SMS)

    OpenAIRE

    Rossy W, Cahyo; Wellem, Theophilus; Utomo, Wiranto Herry

    2006-01-01

    Development progress of Communication technology increase in a line with the people demand of the technology, such as Wireless communication technology, especially, Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM), which known as a digital mobile phone. Mobile phone used to send and receive short message in GSM network known as Short Messaging Service (SMS), besides communicate with another person by voice. In recent years, SMS is not just used for text-based communication tool between mobile pho...

  18. [Online text-based psychosocial intervention for Youth in Quebec].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thoër, Christine; Noiseux, Kathia; Siche, Fabienne; Palardy, Caroline; Vanier, Claire; Vrignaud, Caroline

    In 2013, Tel-jeunes created a text messaging intervention program to reach youth aged 12 to 17 years on their cell phones. Tel-jeunes was the first in the country to offer a text-based brief psychosocial interventions performed by professional counselors. Researchers were contacted to document and evaluate the program. The research aimed to: 1) determine motives, contexts and issues that lead young people to use the SMS service; 2) document the characteristics of text-based brief intervention; and 3) assess the advantages and difficulties encountered by counselors who respounded to youth text-messages. We conducted a multimethod research from November 2013 to May 2014. We held four focus groups with 23 adolescents aged 15 to 17 who had or not used the SMS service, conducted a content analysis of a corpus of 13,236 text messages (or 601 conversations), and two focus groups with 11 Tel-jeunes counselors, just over a year after the implantation of the service. Our findings show that the SMS service meets youth needs. They identify text messaging to be their prefered mode of communication with Tel-jeunes when they need support or information. Moreover, the service reaches young people who would not have felt confortable to contact Tel-jeunes by phone. We identified three dominant issues in youths demands: romantic relationships, psychological health and sexuality. Perceived benefits of the service include anonimity and privacy (cell phone providing the ability to text anywhere). Youth participants also appreciated writing to counselors as they felt they had more time to think abouth their questions and answers to the counselor. Counselors were more ambivalent. They considered text-based intervention to be very effective and satisfactory to adress youth information requests, but reported difficulties when dealing with more complex problems or with mental health issues. They reported that text-based communication makes it more difficult to assess youth emotional states

  19. Monitoring interaction and collective text production through text mining

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Macedo, Alexandra Lorandi

    2014-04-01

    Full Text Available This article presents the Concepts Network tool, developed using text mining technology. The main objective of this tool is to extract and relate terms of greatest incidence from a text and exhibit the results in the form of a graph. The Network was implemented in the Collective Text Editor (CTE which is an online tool that allows the production of texts in synchronized or non-synchronized forms. This article describes the application of the Network both in texts produced collectively and texts produced in a forum. The purpose of the tool is to offer support to the teacher in managing the high volume of data generated in the process of interaction amongst students and in the construction of the text. Specifically, the aim is to facilitate the teacher’s job by allowing him/her to process data in a shorter time than is currently demanded. The results suggest that the Concepts Network can aid the teacher, as it provides indicators of the quality of the text produced. Moreover, messages posted in forums can be analyzed without their content necessarily having to be pre-read.

  20. Friendly-Sharing: Improving the Performance of City Sensoring through Contact-Based Messaging Applications

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jorge Herrera-Tapia

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available Regular citizens equipped with smart devices are being increasingly used as “sensors” by Smart Cities applications. Using contacts among users, data in the form of messages is obtained and shared. Contact-based messaging applications are based on establishing a short-range communication directly between mobile devices, and on storing the messages in these devices for subsequent delivery to cloud-based services. An effective way to increase the number of messages that can be shared is to increase the contact duration. We thus introduce the Friendly-Sharing diffusion approach, where, during a contact, the users are aware of the time needed to interchange the messages stored in their buffers, and they can thus decide to wait more time in order to increase the message sharing probability. The performance of this approach is anyway closely related to the size of the buffer in the device. We therefore compare various policies either for the message selection at forwarding times and for message dropping when the buffer is full. We evaluate our proposal with a modified version of the Opportunistic Networking Environment (ONE simulator and using real human mobility traces.

  1. Message framing in social networking sites.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kao, Danny Tengti; Chuang, Shih-Chieh; Wang, Sui-Min; Zhang, Lei

    2013-10-01

    Online social networking sites represent significant new opportunities for Internet advertisers. However, results based on the real world cannot be generalized to all virtual worlds. In this research, the moderating effects of need for cognition (NFC) and knowledge were applied to examine the impact of message framing on attitudes toward social networking sites. A total of 216 undergraduates participated in the study. Results reveal that for social networking sites, while high-NFC individuals form more favorable attitudes toward negatively framed messages than positively framed messages, low-NFC individuals form more favorable attitudes toward positively framed messages than negatively framed messages. In addition, low-knowledge individuals demonstrate more favorable attitudes toward negatively framed messages than positively framed messages; however, the framing effect does not differentially affect the attitudes of high-knowledge individuals. Furthermore, the framing effect does not differentially affect the attitudes of high-NFC individuals with high knowledge. In contrast, low-NFC individuals with low knowledge hold more favorable attitudes toward positively framed messages than negatively framed messages.

  2. Effect of Education by Text Messaging Based on Health Belief Model on Food Handling Behaviors in Health Volunteers\\' Yazd City

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    MA Morowatisharifabad

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available Introduction: The text message can be presented as a way to change patterns of behavior-based prevention programs, such as the theory of planned behavior and health belief model to be used., And as an alternative approach to the individual and group training programs should be considered. The present study examined the effectiveness of this new method in promoting food handling behavior of a team of health volunteers on health belief model was based. Methods: This study was an evaluation of an intervention in which 16 health centers, 200 health volunteers who were actively involved Yazd city who were randomly divided into two groups. After the initial test, chi-square test, t test were analyzed. The intervention group received an educational package on the SMS regarding  food handling behavior on health Belief Model was designed for codification; wantonly within a month and a half a day and after 8 weeks of the last SMS sent from any intervention and control groups was performed in a secondary assessment. Tool for data gathering questionnaire consisting of structures of health belief model including demographic variables, respectively. Data were using 18spss and employing applied, statistical tests of non-parametric Wilcoxon, Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis, Chi-square and correlation coefficient the analysis was. Results: The overall food handling behavior, after training significantly increased in the intervention group (p =0/01, while the control group was not significant (p=0/21. Cooling behavior after training in the experimental group and the control group was significantly increased (p =0/00. Cooking behavior, after training in the intervention group (p =0/11 and control group( p =0/17 was not significantly increased. Individual health behavior, after training in the intervention group (p =0/13 and control group (p =0/07 was not significantly increased. Separation behavior after training has not significantly increased in the

  3. Text4baby program: an opportunity to reach underserved pregnant and postpartum women?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gazmararian, Julie A; Elon, Lisa; Yang, Baiyu; Graham, Megan; Parker, Ruth

    2014-01-01

    Text4baby was launched in 2010 to promote healthy pregnancies and babies by the use of text messaging. The primary objective of this study was to assess factors related to the enrollment process and reception of text4baby. A prospective cohort study was conducted in two Women, Infant and Children clinics in Atlanta (April 2010-July 2011). Randomly selected pregnant and postpartum women (n = 468) were queried on cell phone use and instructed on text4baby enrollment. Self-enrollment issues were assessed at one-week follow-up (n = 351, 75.0 %), and message reception and reading patterns at two-month follow-up (n = 209, 44.7 %). Forty-two percent of the women had some college education and 82 % had household income education (80 % with some college vs. 62 % with less education), with household income above $10,000 (61 %  $20,000), and among women living in smaller households (77 % 1-3 members vs. 58 % > 3 members) (all p 90 % reported uninterrupted reception and regular reading of messages, and 88 % planned to continue using text4baby. Results also suggested that respondents who were younger (educated and had lower health literacy skills were more likely to have interrupted messages. Despite substantial interest in the text4baby program in an underserved population, innovative ways to help women with significant disadvantages enroll and receive uninterrupted messages are needed.

  4. Improving the Effectiveness of Fundraising Messages: The Impact of Charity Goal Attainment, Message Framing, and Evidence on Persuasion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Das, Enny; Kerkhof, Peter; Kuiper, Joyce

    2008-01-01

    This experimental study assessed the effectiveness of fundraising messages. Based on recent findings regarding the effects of message framing and evidence, effective fundraising messages should combine abstract, statistical information with a negative message frame and anecdotal evidence with a positive message frame. In addition, building on…

  5. Starting Off on the Best Foot: A Review of Message Framing and Message Tailoring, and Recommendations for the Comprehensive Messaging Strategy for Sustained Behavior Change.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pope, J Paige; Pelletier, Luc; Guertin, Camille

    2018-09-01

    Health promotion programs represent a salient means through which physical activity promoters can cultivate positive health behavior change and maintenance. The messages communicated within these programs serve as an essential component as they are often used to convey valuable information, resources, or tools that facilitate health behavior initiation and sustained engagement. Identifying the most effective way to communicate health promotion information is, therefore, of considerable importance to ensuring that people not only attend to these messages, but also connect with and internalize the information conveyed within them. This paper was written to (1) summarize and evaluate the most prominent reviewed research approaches of message framing and tailoring to message design; and (2) offer a comprehensive messaging strategy to promote sustained health behavior change. A review of the literature demonstrated that a messaging strategy that has consistently led to healthy behavior change has yet to be identified. Furthermore, scholars have articulated that a multi-theoretical approach that places emphasis on facilitating motivation and healthy behavior change needs to be employed. Thus, this paper proposes and provides recommendations for employing the Comprehensive Messaging Strategy for Sustained Behavior Change (CMSSBC), which advocates tailoring messages to peoples' stage of change and framing them to focus on self-determined motives and intrinsic goals.

  6. Message Collision Avoidance Protocols for Detecting Stray Nodes in a Scuba Diving Group Using Ultrasonic Multi-Hop Message Communication

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shinya Kaido

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Recent years have seen a growing interest in underwater communication and some progress has been made in this area. However, underwater communication is still immature compared with terrestrial communication. A prime reason for this is that the underwater environment is intrinsically not suitable for propagation of electric waves. Instead, ultrasonic waves are mainly used for underwater communication. Since ultrasonic waves cannot provide sufficient communication speed or capacity, they cannot use existing network technologies, which assume use of radio waves. In particular, communication in shallow water is still an uncharted territory. Few communication technologies are employed in environments where people enjoy scuba diving. This paper addresses problems faced by recreational scuba divers. It proposes constructing an ad hoc mesh-shaped network between divers within a group and use ultrasonic waves as transmission media in order to enable the detection of a stray diver. It also proposes a communication protocol in which messages are relayed in multiple hops, and a message collision avoidance method, which is intended to reduce the rate of packet loss caused by message propagation delay. We have implemented the proposed methods in a network simulator, and compared them with an existing communication method that has no message collision avoidance function, in terms of the packet loss rate, the stray driver detection rate, and the rate of the ability to communicate in multiple hops.

  7. Impact of Cultural Exposure and Message Framing on Oral Health Behavior: Exploring the Role of Message Memory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brick, Cameron; McCully, Scout N; Updegraff, John A; Ehret, Phillip J; Areguin, Maira A; Sherman, David K

    2016-10-01

    Health messages are more effective when framed to be congruent with recipient characteristics, and health practitioners can strategically choose message features to promote adherence to recommended behaviors. We present exposure to US culture as a moderator of the impact of gain-frame versus loss-frame messages. Since US culture emphasizes individualism and approach orientation, greater cultural exposure was expected to predict improved patient choices and memory for gain-framed messages, whereas individuals with less exposure to US culture would show these advantages for loss-framed messages. 223 participants viewed a written oral health message in 1 of 3 randomized conditions-gain-frame, loss-frame, or no-message control-and were given 10 flosses. Cultural exposure was measured with the proportions of life spent and parents born in the US. At baseline and 1 week later, participants completed recall tests and reported recent flossing behavior. Message frame and cultural exposure interacted to predict improved patient decisions (increased flossing) and memory maintenance for the health message over 1 week; for example, those with low cultural exposure who saw a loss-frame message flossed more. Incongruent messages led to the same flossing rates as no message. Memory retention did not explain the effect of message congruency on flossing. Flossing behavior was self-reported. Cultural exposure may only have practical application in either highly individualistic or collectivistic countries. In health care settings where patients are urged to follow a behavior, asking basic demographic questions could allow medical practitioners to intentionally communicate in terms of gains or losses to improve patient decision making and treatment adherence. © The Author(s) 2015.

  8. Content analysis of Student's short messages; Tehran's universities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Masoud Kowsari

    2008-07-01

    Full Text Available Recently, cell phone, as an unlimited media, in comparison with others, has deeply changed the modes of interpersonal connections. Accessibility, and inexpensiveness, in addition to the transcendence of normal face to face relation restrictions, could be taken for granted as most fascinating features of SMS. Therefore, content analysis of the SMS could help to clarify the communicative subjectivities in interpersonal communications. This study tends to analyze the content of 2651 short messages exchanged among 80 students both genders, in various universities in Tehran. This paper attempts to answer the following questions: Who are the main senders of the messages? In what time are the SMS s frequently s sent or received? What are the most frequent contents? Is there any relationship between the gender of recipients/senders and the content of the messages? Whether the contents are related to the marital statue of the receiver and sender or not?

  9. Songs as a Medium for Embedded Reproductive Messages

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dawn R. Hobbs

    2011-07-01

    Full Text Available Research shows that sensational news stories as well as popular romance novels often feature themes related to important topics in evolutionary psychology. In the first of four studies described in this paper we examined the song lyrics from three Billboard charts: Country, Pop, and R&B. A content analysis of the lyrics revealed 18 reproductive themes that read like an outline for a course in evolutionary psychology. Approximately 92% of the 174 songs that made it into the Top Ten in 2009 contained one or more reproductive messages, with an average of 10.49 reproductive phrases per song. Although differences in the frequency of different themes between charts were found, further analyses showed that the most popular/bestselling songs contained significantly more reproductive messages. An analysis of the lyrics of opera arias and art songs also revealed evidence for many of the same embedded reproductive messages extending back more than 400 years.

  10. HIV Prevention Messages Targeting Young Latino Immigrant MSM

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rosa Solorio

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Young Latino immigrant men who have sex with men (MSM are at risk for HIV and for delayed diagnosis. A need exists to raise awareness about HIV prevention in this population, including the benefits of timely HIV testing. This project was developed through collaboration between University of WA researchers and Entre Hermanos, a community-based organization serving Latinos. Building from a community-based participatory research approach, the researchers developed a campaign that was executed by Activate Brands, based in Denver, Colorado. The authors (a describe the development of HIV prevention messages through the integration of previously collected formative data; (b describe the process of translating these messages into PSAs, including the application of a marketing strategy; (c describe testing the PSAs within the Latino MSM community; and (c determine a set of important factors to consider when developing HIV prevention messages for young Latino MSM who do not identify as gay.

  11. Sequencing the threat and recommendation components of persuasive messages differentially improves the effectiveness of high- and low-distressing imagery in an anti-alcohol message in students.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brown, Stephen L; West, Charlotte

    2015-05-01

    Distressing imagery is often used to improve the persuasiveness of mass-reach health promotion messages, but its effectiveness may be limited because audiences avoid attending to content. Prior self-affirmation or self-efficacy inductions have been shown to reduce avoidance and improve audience responsiveness to distressing messages, but these are difficult to introduce into a mass-reach context. Reasoning that a behavioural recommendation may have a similar effect, we reversed the traditional threat-behavioural recommendation health promotion message sequence. 2 × 2 experimental design: Factor 1, high- and low-distress images; Factor 2, threat-recommendation and recommendation-threat sequences. Ninety-one students were exposed to an identical text message accompanied by high- or low-distress imagery presented in threat-recommendation and recommendation-threat sequences. For the high-distress message, greater persuasion was observed for the recommendation-threat than the threat-recommendation sequence. This was partially mediated by participants' greater self-exposure to the threat component of the message, which we attribute to the effect of sequence in reducing attentional avoidance. For the low-distress message, greater persuasion was observed for the threat-recommendation sequence, which was not mediated by reading time allocated to the threat. Tailoring message sequence to suit the degree of distress that message developers wish to induce provides a tool that could improve persuasive messages. These findings provide a first step in this process and discuss further steps needed to consolidate and expand these findings. Statement of contribution What is already known on this subject? Health promotion messages accompanied by distressing imagery might, under some circumstances, persuade individuals to engage in healthier behaviour. Audiences can respond defensively to distressing imagery, but may be less inclined to do so when an easily followed behavioural

  12. Degree sequence in message transfer

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yamuna, M.

    2017-11-01

    Message encryption is always an issue in current communication scenario. Methods are being devised using various domains. Graphs satisfy numerous unique properties which can be used for message transfer. In this paper, I propose a message encryption method based on degree sequence of graphs.

  13. Track-stitching using graphical models and message passing

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Van der Merwe, LJ

    2013-07-01

    Full Text Available In order to stitch tracks together, two tasks are required, namely tracking and track stitching. In this study track stitching is performed using a graphical model and message passing (belief propagation) approach. Tracks are modelled as nodes in a...

  14. Instant Messaging for Creating Interactive and Collaborative m-Learning Environments

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    James Kadirire

    2007-06-01

    Full Text Available 'Instant Messaging' (IM and 'Presence,' which is essentially the ability of being able to detect if other users are logged in on the network and send them messages in real time, has become one of the most popular applications of the Internet, causing people to want to stay connected to the Internet for inordinate amounts of time, a phenomena that also fosters a sense of "online community," that perhaps no other application has done previously (Alvestrand, 2002. This research looks at the use of mobile devices to send instant messages that can carry much more information than the short message service (SMS messages, but would be free to use, notwithstanding the price of getting online. We present a prototype IM system that can be used as a viable means of communicating and learning in higher education establishments. There is some evidence to show that learning using mobile devices reduces the formality of the learning experience, and helps engage reluctant learners and raise their self-confidence. In order for the learning process to be successful in online distance learning, unlike in the traditional face-to-face learning, attention must be paid to developing the participants' sense of community within their particular group. Instant messaging – or IM – is a natural medium for online community building and asynchronous/ synchronous peer discussions.

  15. Use of an Automated Mobile Phone Messaging Robot in Postoperative Patient Monitoring.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anthony, Chris A; Lawler, Ericka A; Ward, Christina M; Lin, Ines C; Shah, Apurva S

    2018-01-01

    Mobile phone messaging software robots allow clinicians and healthcare systems to communicate with patients without the need for human intervention. The purpose of this study was to (1) describe a method for communicating with patients postoperatively outside of the traditional healthcare setting by utilizing an automated software and mobile phone messaging platform and to (2) evaluate the first week of postoperative pain and opioid use after common ambulatory hand surgery procedures. The investigation was a prospective, multicenter investigation of patient-reported pain and opioid usage after ambulatory hand surgery. Inclusion criteria included any adult with a mobile phone capable of text messaging, who was undergoing a common ambulatory hand surgical procedure at one of three tertiary care institutions. Participants received daily, automated text messages inquiring about their pain level and how many tablets of prescription pain medication they had taken in the past 24 h. Initial 1-week response rate was assessed and compared between different patient demographics. Patient-reported pain and opioid use were also quantified for the first postoperative week. Statistical significance was set as p tablets of prescription opioid pain medication. We find that a mobile phone messaging software robot allows for effective data collection of postoperative pain and pain medication use. Patients undergoing common ambulatory hand procedures utilized an average of 16 tablets of opioid medication in the first postoperative week.

  16. Proximity-Based Asynchronous Messaging Platform for Location-Based Internet of Things Service

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hyeong gon Jo

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available The Internet of Things (IoT opens up tremendous opportunities to provide location-based applications. However, despite the services around a user being physically adjacent, common IoT platforms use a centralized structure, like a cloud-computing architecture, which transfers large amounts of data to a central server. This raises problems, such as traffic concentration, long service latency, and high communication cost. In this paper, we propose a physical distance-based asynchronous messaging platform that specializes in processing personalized data and location-based messages. The proposed system disperses traffic using a location-based message-delivery protocol, and has high stability.

  17. Recognizing References to Physical Places Inside Short Texts by Using Patterns as a Sequence of Grammatical Categories

    Science.gov (United States)

    Romero, A.; Sol, D.

    2017-09-01

    Collecting data by crowdsourcing is an explored trend to support database population and update. This kind of data is unstructured and comes from text, in particular text in social networks. Geographic database is a particular case of database that can be populated by crowdsourcing which can be done when people report some urban event in a social network by writing a short message. An event can describe an accident or a non-functioning device in the urban area. The authorities then need to read and to interpret the message to provide some help for injured people or to fix a problem in a device installed in the urban area like a light or a problem on road. Our main interest is located on working with short messages organized in a collection. Most of the messages do not have geographical coordinates. The messages can then be classified by text patterns describing a location. In fact, people use a text pattern to describe an urban location. Our work tries to identify patterns inside a short text and to indicate when it describes a location. When a pattern is identified our approach look to describe the place where the event is located. The source messages used are tweets reporting events from several Mexican cities.

  18. Work-related stress assessed by a text message single-item stress question.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arapovic-Johansson, B; Wåhlin, C; Kwak, L; Björklund, C; Jensen, I

    2017-12-02

    Given the prevalence of work stress-related ill-health in the Western world, it is important to find cost-effective, easy-to-use and valid measures which can be used both in research and in practice. To examine the validity and reliability of the single-item stress question (SISQ), distributed weekly by short message service (SMS) and used for measurement of work-related stress. The convergent validity was assessed through associations between the SISQ and subscales of the Job Demand-Control-Support model, the Effort-Reward Imbalance model and scales measuring depression, exhaustion and sleep. The predictive validity was assessed using SISQ data collected through SMS. The reliability was analysed by the test-retest procedure. Correlations between the SISQ and all the subscales except for job strain and esteem reward were significant, ranging from -0.186 to 0.627. The SISQ could also predict sick leave, depression and exhaustion at 12-month follow-up. The analysis on reliability revealed a satisfactory stability with a weighted kappa between 0.804 and 0.868. The SISQ, administered through SMS, can be used for the screening of stress levels in a working population. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Occupational Medicine. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com

  19. Entity-based Classification of Twitter Messages

    OpenAIRE

    Yerva, Surender Reddy; Miklós, Zoltán; Aberer, Karl

    2012-01-01

    Twitter is a popular micro-blogging service on theWeb, where people can enter short messages, which then become visible to some other users of the service. While the topics of these messages varies, there are a lot of messages where the users express their opinions about some companies or their products. These messages are a rich source of information for companies for sentiment analysis or opinion mining. There is however a great obstacle for analyzing the messages directly: as the company n...

  20. Fear, threat and efficacy in threat appeals: message involvement as a key mediator to message acceptance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cauberghe, Verolien; De Pelsmacker, Patrick; Janssens, Wim; Dens, Nathalie

    2009-03-01

    In a sample of 170 youngsters, the effect of two versions of a public service announcement (PSA) threat appeal against speeding, placed in four different contexts, on evoked fear, perceived threat (severity and probability of occurrence), perceived response efficacy and self-efficacy, message involvement and anti-speeding attitude and anti-speeding intention is investigated. Evoked fear and perceived threat and efficacy independently influence message involvement. Message involvement is a full mediator between evoked fear, perceived threat and efficacy perception on the one hand, and attitudes towards the message and behavioral intention to accept the message on the other. Speeding experience has a significantly negative impact on anti-speeding attitudes. Message and medium context threat levels and context thematic congruency have a significant effect on evoked fear and to a lesser extent on perceived threat.

  1. Getting the message across: age differences in the positive and negative framing of health care messages.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shamaskin, Andrea M; Mikels, Joseph A; Reed, Andrew E

    2010-09-01

    Although valenced health care messages influence impressions, memory, and behavior (Levin, Schneider, & Gaeth, 1998) and the processing of valenced information changes with age (Carstensen & Mikels, 2005), these 2 lines of research have thus far been disconnected. This study examined impressions of, and memory for, positively and negatively framed health care messages that were presented in pamphlets to 25 older adults and 24 younger adults. Older adults relative to younger adults rated positive pamphlets more informative than negative pamphlets and remembered a higher proportion of positive to negative messages. However, older adults misremembered negative messages to be positive. These findings demonstrate the age-related positivity effect in health care messages with promise as to the persuasive nature and lingering effects of positive messages. (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved.

  2. Improving the effectiveness of fundraising messages: The impact of charity goal attainment, message framing, and evidence on persuasion

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Das, E.; Kerkhof, P.; Kuiper, J.

    2008-01-01

    This experimental study assessed the effectiveness of fundraising messages. Based on recent findings regarding the effects of message framing and evidence, effective fundraising messages should combine abstract, statistical information with a negative message frame and anecdotal evidence with a

  3. A Comparative Study in Communication Texts & Theories

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mahdi Mohsenian Rad

    2011-04-01

    Full Text Available The present article is to study the characteristics and general nature of audience and is described it as "Audience phantasm" in developing countries. It firstly notes that there will be consequences such as audience distancing themselves from local and official media if policy makers and media officials' imaginations of audiences become far from related bare facts have happened in the era of global media and the nature of audiences. Knowing and analyzing the image of audiences presented in new communication theories. Accordingly, as the abovementioned authorities’ viewpoint of audiences exposed to media messages keeps distance from the true nature of media activities, media‐message receivers and their current position in the booming market of media, as termed by Mohsenyan Rad as “Message Bazaar”, there will possibly be disastrous social, cultural, political, and even economic consequences with regard to media uses.Then the history and definitions of “audience”, "uses & gratifications theory" and the concept of "Audience Phantasm" is described. After that, based on those and the increased options as well as the right of selecting of today-audience in the situation of message bazaar, as a result the characteristics of them are explained.

  4. FACEBOOK ADVERTISING: RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TYPES OF MESSAGE, BRAND ATTITUDE AND PERCEIVED BUYING RISK

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    BOGDAN ANASTASIEI

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available We are witnessing a spectacular growth in electronic commerce in recent years, although we cannot say that it has been without obstacles. Among the barriers mentioned by the literature are the lack of trust in online brands, the perceived purchase risk, the perception of the type of promotional message. More often than not, commercial Facebook posts influence brand image and brand trust, which can lead to an increased buying intention. Our research attempted to determine whether the type of commercial Facebook posts (paid or unpaid and the type of post content (rational or emotional influence message credibility, attitude towards the advertised brand and perceived purchase risk. The type of post appeared not to influence any of these variables, while the type of message significantly influenced the credibility and the perceived risk. The rational message generated more credibility, while the perceived purchase risk is higher for the emotional messages.

  5. The impact of cultural exposure and message framing on oral health behavior: Exploring the role of message memory

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brick, Cameron; McCully, Scout N.; Updegraff, John A.; Ehret, Phillip J.; Areguin, Maira A.; Sherman, David K.

    2015-01-01

    Background Health messages are more effective when framed to be congruent with recipient characteristics, and health practitioners can strategically decide on message features to promote adherence to recommended behaviors. We present exposure to United States (U.S.) culture as a moderator of the impact of gain- vs. loss-frame messages. Since U.S. culture emphasizes individualism and approach orientation, greater cultural exposure was expected to predict improved patient choices and memory for gain-framed messages, whereas individuals with less exposure to U.S. culture would show these advantages for loss-framed messages. Methods 223 participants viewed a written oral health message in one of three randomized conditions: gain-frame, loss-frame, or no-message control, and were given ten flosses. Cultural exposure was measured with the proportions of life spent and parents born in the U.S. At baseline and one week later, participants completed recall tests and reported recent flossing behavior. Results Message frame and cultural exposure interacted to predict improved patient decisions (increased flossing) and memory maintenance for the health message over one week. E.g., those with low cultural exposure who saw a loss-frame message flossed more. Incongruent messages led to the same flossing rates as no message. Memory retention did not explain the effect of message congruency on flossing. Limitations Flossing behavior was self-reported. Cultural exposure may only have practical application in either highly individualistic or collectivistic countries. Conclusions In healthcare settings where patients are urged to follow a behavior, asking basic demographic questions could allow medical practitioners to intentionally communicate in terms of gains or losses to improve patient decision making and treatment adherence. PMID:25654986

  6. Developing effective messages about potable recycled water: The importance of message structure and content

    Science.gov (United States)

    Price, J.; Fielding, K. S.; Gardner, J.; Leviston, Z.; Green, M.

    2015-04-01

    Community opposition is a barrier to potable recycled water schemes. Effective communication strategies about such schemes are needed. Drawing on social psychological literature, two experimental studies are presented, which explore messages that improve public perceptions of potable recycled water. The Elaboration-Likelihood Model of information processing and attitude change is tested and supported. Study 1 (N = 415) premeasured support for recycled water, and trust in government information at Time 1. Messages varied in complexity and sidedness were presented at Time 2 (3 weeks later), and support and trust were remeasured. Support increased after receiving information, provided that participants received complex rather than simple information. Trust in government was also higher after receiving information. There was tentative evidence of this in response to two-sided messages rather than one-sided messages. Initial attitudes to recycled water moderated responses to information. Those initially neutral or ambivalent responded differently to simple and one-sided messages, compared to participants with positive or negative attitudes. Study 2 (N = 957) tested the effectiveness of information about the low relative risks, and/or benefits of potable recycled water, compared to control groups. Messages about the low risks resulted in higher support when the issue of recycled water was relevant. Messages about benefits resulted in higher perceived issue relevance, but did not translate into greater support. The results highlight the importance of understanding people's motivation to process information, and need to tailor communication to match attitudes and stage of recycled water schemes' development.

  7. Hill Cipher and Least Significant Bit for Image Messaging Security

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Muhammad Husnul Arif

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available Exchange of information through cyberspace has many benefits as an example fast estimated time, unlimited physical distance and space limits, etc. But in these activities can also pose a security risk for confidential information. It is necessary for the safety that can be used to protect data transmitted through the Internet. Encryption algorithm that used to encrypt message to be sent (plaintext into messages that have been randomized (ciphertext is cryptography and steganography algorithms. In application of cryptographic techniques that will be used is Hill Cipher. The technique is combined with steganography techniques Least Significant Bit. The result of merging techniques can maintain the confidentiality of messages because people who do not know the secret key used will be difficult to get the message contained in the stego-image and the image that has been inserted can not be used as a cover image. Message successfully inserted and extracted back on all samples with a good image formats * .bmp, * .png , * .jpg at a resolution of 512 x 512 pixels , 256 x 256 pixels. MSE and PSNR results are not influenced file format or file size, but influenced by dimensions of image. The larger dimensions of the image, then the smaller MSE that means error of image gets smaller.

  8. Bilingual Text4Walking Food Service Employee Intervention Pilot Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buchholz, Susan Weber; Ingram, Diana; Wilbur, JoEllen; Fogg, Louis; Sandi, Giselle; Moss, Angela; Ocampo, Edith V

    2016-06-01

    Half of all adults in the United States do not meet the level of recommended aerobic physical activity. Physical activity interventions are now being conducted in the workplace. Accessible technology, in the form of widespread usage of cell phones and text messaging, is available for promoting physical activity. The purposes of this study, which was conducted in the workplace, were to determine (1) the feasibility of implementing a bilingual 12-week Text4Walking intervention and (2) the effect of the Text4Walking intervention on change in physical activity and health status in a food service employee population. Before conducting the study reported here, the Text4Walking research team developed a database of motivational physical activity text messages in English. Because Hispanic or Latino adults compose one-quarter of all adults employed in the food service industry, the Text4Walking team translated the physical activity text messages into Spanish. This pilot study was guided by the Physical Activity Health Promotion Framework and used a 1-group 12-week pre- and posttest design with food service employees who self-reported as being sedentary. The aim of the study was to increase the number of daily steps over the baseline by 3000 steps. Three physical activity text messages were delivered weekly. In addition, participants received 3 motivational calls during the study. SPSS version 19.0 and R 3.0 were used to perform the data analysis. There were 33 employees who participated in the study (57.6% female), with a mean age of 43.7 years (SD 8.4). The study included 11 Hispanic or Latino participants, 8 of whom requested that the study be delivered in Spanish. There was a 100% retention rate in the study. At baseline, the participants walked 102 (SD 138) minutes/day (per self-report). This rate increased significantly (P=.008) to 182 (SD 219) minutes/day over the course of the study. The participants had a baseline mean of 10,416 (SD 5097) steps, which also increased

  9. Characteristics of electronic patient-provider messaging system utilisation in an urban health care organisation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sean Patrick Mikles

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available Introduction Research suggests that electronic messaging can improve patient engagement. Studies indicate that a ‘digital divide’ may exist, where certain patient populations may be using electronic messaging less frequently. This study aims to determine which patient characteristics are associated with different levels of usage of an electronic patient-provider messaging system in a diverse urban population.Methods Cross-sectional electronic health record data were extracted for patients 10 years of age or older who live in New York City and who visited a set of clinics between 1 July 2011 and 30 June 2012. Regression analyses determined which participant characteristics were associated with the sending of electronic messages.Results Older, female, English-speaking participants of white race who received more messages, had any diagnoses, more office visits and a provider who sent messages were more likely to send more messages. Non-Millennial, non-white participants who received fewer messages, had more office visits, any diagnoses, a provider who saw fewer patients with patient portal accounts, lived in a low socioeconomic status neighbourhood, and did not have private insurance were more likely to send zero messages.Conclusion This study found significant differences in electronic messaging usage based on demographic, socioeconomic and health-related patient characteristics. Future studies are needed to support these results and determine the causes of observed associations.

  10. A Messaging Infrastructure for WLCG

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Casey, James; Cons, Lionel; Lapka, Wojciech; Paladin, Massimo; Skaburskas, Konstantin

    2011-01-01

    During the EGEE-III project operational tools such as SAM, Nagios, Gridview, the regional Dashboard and GGUS moved to a communication architecture based on ActiveMQ, an open-source enterprise messaging solution. LHC experiments, in particular ATLAS, developed prototypes of systems using the same messaging infrastructure, validating the system for their use-cases. In this paper we describe the WLCG messaging use cases and outline an improved messaging architecture based on the experience gained during the EGEE-III period. We show how this provides a solid basis for many applications, including the grid middleware, to improve their resilience and reliability.

  11. Mobile phone messaging for facilitating self-management of long-term illnesses.

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Jongh, Thyra; Gurol-Urganci, Ipek; Vodopivec-Jamsek, Vlasta; Car, Josip; Atun, Rifat

    2012-12-12

    a third. Primary outcomes of interest were health outcomes as a result of the intervention and capacity to self-manage long-term conditions. We also considered patients' and providers' evaluation of the intervention, perceptions of safety, health service utilisation and costs, and potential harms or adverse effects. The included studies were heterogeneous in type of condition addressed, intervention characteristics and outcome measures. Therefore, a meta-analysis to derive an overall effect size for the main outcome categories was not considered justified and findings are presented narratively. We included four randomised controlled trials involving 182 participants.For the primary outcome of health outcomes, including physiological measures, there is moderate quality evidence from two studies involving people with diabetes showing no statistical difference from text messaging interventions compared with usual care or email reminders for glycaemic control (HbA1c), the frequency of diabetic complications, or body weight. There is moderate quality evidence from one study of hypertensive patients that the mean blood pressure and the proportion of patients who achieved blood pressure control were not significantly different in the intervention and control groups, and that there was no statistically significant difference in mean body weight between the groups. There is moderate quality evidence from one study that asthma patients receiving a text messaging intervention experienced greater improvements on peak expiratory flow variability (mean difference (MD) -11.12, 95% confidence interval (CI) -19.56 to -2.68) and the pooled symptom score comprising four items (cough, night symptoms, sleep quality, and maximum tolerated activity) (MD -0.36, 95% CI -0.56 to -0.17) compared with the control group. However, the study found no significant differences between the groups in impact on forced vital capacity or forced expiratory flow in 1 second.For the primary outcome of

  12. Windows Instant Messaging App Forensics: Facebook and Skype as Case Studies.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Teing Yee Yang

    Full Text Available Instant messaging (IM has changed the way people communicate with each other. However, the interactive and instant nature of these applications (apps made them an attractive choice for malicious cyber activities such as phishing. The forensic examination of IM apps for modern Windows 8.1 (or later has been largely unexplored, as the platform is relatively new. In this paper, we seek to determine the data remnants from the use of two popular Windows Store application software for instant messaging, namely Facebook and Skype on a Windows 8.1 client machine. This research contributes to an in-depth understanding of the types of terrestrial artefacts that are likely to remain after the use of instant messaging services and application software on a contemporary Windows operating system. Potential artefacts detected during the research include data relating to the installation or uninstallation of the instant messaging application software, log-in and log-off information, contact lists, conversations, and transferred files.

  13. INVESTIGATION OF ADS-B MESSAGES TRAFFIC VIA SATELLITE COMMUNICATION CHANNEL

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Volodymyr Kharchenko

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available For modelling of ADS-B messages transmition with the help of low-orbit satellite complex Іrіdіumdifferent models of communication channel "Aircraft-to-Satellites-to-Ground Stations" were built using NetCrackerProfessіonal 4.1 software. Influence of aircraft and satellites amount on average link utilization and message travellingtime was studied for telecommunication channels with intersatellite link and bent-pipe architecture. The effect ofcommunication channel "saturation" during simultaneous data transmission through a satellite communicationchannel from many planes was investigated.

  14. Distributed parallel messaging for multiprocessor systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Dong; Heidelberger, Philip; Salapura, Valentina; Senger, Robert M; Steinmacher-Burrow, Burhard; Sugawara, Yutaka

    2013-06-04

    A method and apparatus for distributed parallel messaging in a parallel computing system. The apparatus includes, at each node of a multiprocessor network, multiple injection messaging engine units and reception messaging engine units, each implementing a DMA engine and each supporting both multiple packet injection into and multiple reception from a network, in parallel. The reception side of the messaging unit (MU) includes a switch interface enabling writing of data of a packet received from the network to the memory system. The transmission side of the messaging unit, includes switch interface for reading from the memory system when injecting packets into the network.

  15. When communications collide with recipients' actions: effects of post-message behavior on intentions to follow the message recommendation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Albarracín, Dolores; Cohen, Joel B; Kumkale, G Tarcan

    2003-07-01

    Two experiments investigated the processes through which post-message behavior (e.g., noncompliance) influences resistance to the message. Participants in Experiment 1 read preventive, consumer-education messages that either opposed the consumption of an alcohol-like product or recommended moderation. Half of the participants then tried the product, whereas the remaining participants performed a filler task. In the absence of trial, the two messages had the same effect. However, recipients of the abstinence-promoting preventive message who tried the product had stronger intentions to use the product in the future than recipients of the moderation message. This finding suggests that assessments of message impact may be inadequate unless an opportunity for trial is also provided. Results are interpreted in terms of self-perception and cognitive dissonance and contrasted from psychological reactance.

  16. When Communications Collide With Recipients’ Actions: Effects of Post-Message Behavior on Intentions to Follow the Message Recommendation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Albarracín, Dolores; Cohen, Joel B.; Kumkale, G. Tarcan

    2013-01-01

    Two experiments investigated the processes through which post-message behavior (e.g., noncompliance) influences resistance to the message. Participants in Experiment 1 read preventive, consumer-education messages that either opposed the consumption of an alcohol-like product or recommended moderation. Half of the participants then tried the product, whereas the remaining participants performed a filler task. In the absence of trial, the two messages had the same effect. However, recipients of the abstinence-promoting preventive message who tried the product had stronger intentions to use the product in the future than recipients of the moderation message. This finding suggests that assessments of message impact may be inadequate unless an opportunity for trial is also provided. Results are interpreted in terms of self-perception and cognitive dissonance and contrasted from psychological reactance. PMID:15018672

  17. Comparing the Effects of Negative and Mixed Emotional Messages on Predicted Occasional Excessive Drinking

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pilar Carrera

    2008-01-01

    Full Text Available In this work we present two types of emotional message, negative (sadness versus mixed (joy and sadness, with the aim of studying their differential effect on attitude change and the probability estimated by participants of repeating the behavior of occasional excessive drinking in the near future. The results show that for the group of participants with moderate experience in this behavior the negative message, compared to the mixed one, is associated with higher probability of repeating the risk behavior and a less negative attitude toward it. These results suggest that mixed emotional messages (e.g. joy and sadness messages could be more effective in campaigns for the prevention of this risk behavior.

  18. Marketing research for choosing the promotional message content for domestic organic products

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Salai Suzana

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Choosing the content of promotional messages is a part of the activities of integrated marketing communication. As far as organic products in the world are concerned, research related to the choice of promotional message content is the object of much attention, primarily based on the conduct of research among the consumers of these product (information for defining the aim of promotion, creating and testing promotional messages, selecting media and media mix, and determining the number and frequency of promotional events. Promoting domestic organic products also inevitably implies conducting consumer-centred marketing research, in order to choose the appropriate promotional message. In this respect, this article defines several goals: study the choice of the promotional message content in relation to other activities of integrated marketing communication; consider this question in the context of relevant foreign market research into organic product consumers; determine the level of marketing research, which could be used for approaching the issue from the domestic perspective; and establish which recommendations and implication could be generated when domestic organic products are concerned.

  19. System of message for gamma-radiation monitor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bolic, M.D.; Koturovic, A.M.

    2001-01-01

    Paper describes a system of voice messages for gamma-radiation monitor based on PC. The systems reproduces recorded messages that is simpler than the process of their synthesis. Message choice is based on combination of recorded digital results and/or received reference messages or warnings. The system of generation of voice messages applies the Windows based software. The total memory array required to create independent voice system is maximum 1.7 mbyte. The monitor may be used for continuous monitoring of radioactivity level with 5-8 s period of message repetition. Another option of the system operation is based on monitor application for the environment monitoring. Period of messages in this case is equal to 5-30 min [ru

  20. Guidelines for designing messages in risk communication

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Takashita, Hirofumi; Horikoshi, Hidehiko

    2004-07-01

    Risk Communication Study Team (hereafter called RC team) has designed messages for risk communication based on the analysis of the local residents' opinions which were expressed in several questionnaire surveys. The messages are described in a side format (Power Point format) every single content. This report provides basic guidelines for making messages that are used for risk communication, and does not include concrete messages which RC team designed. The RC team has already published the report entitled 'Information materials for risk communication' (JNC TN8450 2003-008) separately, and it gives the concrete messages. This report shows general cautions and checklists in designing messages, comments on the messages from outside risk communication experts, and opinions from local residents. (author)

  1. A sex risk reduction text-message program for young adult females discharged from the emergency department.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Suffoletto, Brian; Akers, Aletha; McGinnis, Kathleen A; Calabria, Jaclyn; Wiesenfeld, Harold C; Clark, Duncan B

    2013-09-01

    To pilot test a text message (SMS) sex risk reduction program among at-risk young adult female patients discharged from an emergency department (ED). A convenience sample of 52 female patients with hazardous drinking behavior and recent risky sexual encounters were recruited from an urban ED and randomized to the SMS program (n = 23) or a control group (n = 29). All participants completed a web-based questionnaire in the ED and at 3-month follow-up. For 12 weeks, SMS participants were asked to report whether they had a risky sexual encounter in the past week, received theory-based feedback, and were asked if they were willing set a goal to refrain from having another risky encounter. Thirty-nine percent of SMS participants completed all weeks of SMS reports, and noncompletion increasing from 12% on week 1 to a 33% by week 12. Three-month follow-up was completed in 56% of participants. In the intervention group, there was an increase in the proportion with condom use with last vaginal sex from 20% (95% CI 4%-48%) to 53% (95% CI 27%-79%) and an increase in always condom use over the past 28 days from 0% (95% CI 0%-22%) to 33% (95% CI 12%-62%). These changes were not statistically different from control participants. SMS programs may be useful to reduce risk for sexually transmitted diseases among at-risk young adults being discharged from the ED. Future trials should examine ways to improve adherence to SMS dialog over time and measure objective outcomes in a larger sample. Copyright © 2013 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  2. Evaluation of Sexual Communication Message Strategies

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-01-01

    Parent-child communication about sex is an important proximal reproductive health outcome. But while campaigns to promote it such as the Parents Speak Up National Campaign (PSUNC) have been effective, little is known about how messages influence parental cognitions and behavior. This study examines which message features explain responses to sexual communication messages. We content analyzed 4 PSUNC ads to identify specific, measurable message and advertising execution features. We then develop quantitative measures of those features, including message strategies, marketing strategies, and voice and other stylistic features, and merged the resulting data into a dataset drawn from a national media tracking survey of the campaign. Finally, we conducted multivariable logistic regression models to identify relationships between message content and ad reactions/receptivity, and between ad reactions/receptivity and parents' cognitions related to sexual communication included in the campaign's conceptual model. We found that overall parents were highly receptive to the PSUNC ads. We did not find significant associations between message content and ad reactions/receptivity. However, we found that reactions/receptivity to specific PSUNC ads were associated with increased norms, self-efficacy, short- and long-term expectations about parent-child sexual communication, as theorized in the conceptual model. This study extends previous research and methods to analyze message content and reactions/receptivity. The results confirm and extend previous PSUNC campaign evaluation and provide further evidence for the conceptual model. Future research should examine additional message content features and the effects of reactions/receptivity. PMID:21599875

  3. 78 FR 52166 - Quantitative Messaging Research

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-08-22

    ... COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION Quantitative Messaging Research AGENCY: Commodity Futures... survey will follow qualitative message testing research (for which CFTC received fast-track OMB approval... message testing research (for which CFTC received fast-track OMB approval) and is necessary to identify...

  4. Source Similarity and Social Media Health Messages: Extending Construal Level Theory to Message Sources.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Young, Rachel

    2015-09-01

    Social media users post messages about health goals and behaviors to online social networks. Compared with more traditional sources of health communication such as physicians or health journalists, peer sources are likely to be perceived as more socially close or similar, which influences how messages are processed. This experimental study uses construal level theory of psychological distance to predict how mediated health messages from peers influence health-related cognition and behavioral intention. Participants were exposed to source cues that identified peer sources as being either highly attitudinally and demographically similar to or different from participants. As predicted by construal level theory, participants who perceived sources of social media health messages as highly similar listed a greater proportion of beliefs about the feasibility of health behaviors and a greater proportion of negative beliefs, while participants who perceived sources as more dissimilar listed a greater proportion of positive beliefs about the health behaviors. Results of the study could be useful in determining how health messages from peers could encourage individuals to set realistic health goals.

  5. Perceptions of anti-smoking messages amongst high school students in Pakistan

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Imam Syed H

    2011-02-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Surveys have provided evidence that tobacco use is widely prevalent amongst the youth in Pakistan. Several reviews have evaluated the effectiveness of various tobacco control programs, however, few have taken into account the perceptions of students themselves regarding these measures. The aim of this study was to determine the most effective anti-smoking messages that can be delivered to high-school students in Pakistan, based on their self-rated perceptions. It also aimed to assess the impact of pictorial/multi-media messages compared with written health warnings and to discover differences in perceptions of smokers to those of non-smokers to health warning messages. Methods This study was carried out in five major cities of Pakistan in private English-medium schools. A presentation was delivered at each school that highlighted the well-established health consequences of smoking using both written health warnings and pictorial/multi-media health messages. Following the presentation, the participants filled out a graded questionnaire form, using which they rated the risk-factors and messages that they thought were most effective in stopping or preventing them from smoking. The Friedman test was used to rank responses to each of the questions in the form. The Wilcoxon Signed Rank test used to analyze the impact of pictorial/multi-media messages over written statements. The Mann Whitney U test was used to compare responses of smokers with those of non-smokers. Results Picture of an oral cavity cancer, videos of a cancer patient using an electronic voice box and a patient on a ventilator, were perceived to be the most effective anti-smoking messages by students. Addiction, harming others through passive smoking and impact of smoking on disposable incomes were perceived to be less effective messages. Pictorial/multi-media messages were perceived to be more effective than written health warnings. Health warnings were perceived as

  6. Improving Dialysis Adherence for High Risk Patients Using Automated Messaging: Proof of Concept

    OpenAIRE

    Som, A.; Groenendyk, J.; An, T.; Patel, K.; Peters, R.; Polites, G.; Ross, W. R.

    2017-01-01

    Comorbidities and socioeconomic barriers often limit patient adherence and self-management with hemodialysis. Missed sessions, often associated with communication barriers, can result in emergency dialysis and avoidable hospitalizations. This proof of concept study explored using a novel digital-messaging platform, EpxDialysis, to improve patient-to-dialysis center communication via widely available text messaging and telephone technology. A randomized controlled trial was conducted through W...

  7. Improving Type Error Messages in OCaml

    OpenAIRE

    Charguéraud , Arthur

    2015-01-01

    International audience; Cryptic type error messages are a major obstacle to learning OCaml or other ML-based languages. In many cases, error messages cannot be interpreted without a sufficiently-precise model of the type inference algorithm. The problem of improving type error messages in ML has received quite a bit of attention over the past two decades, and many different strategies have been considered. The challenge is not only to produce error messages that are both sufficiently concise ...

  8. CMLOG: A common message logging system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen, J.; Akers, W.; Bickley, M.; Wu, D.; Watson, W. III

    1997-01-01

    The Common Message Logging (CMLOG) system is an object-oriented and distributed system that not only allows applications and systems to log data (messages) of any type into a centralized database but also lets applications view incoming messages in real-time or retrieve stored data from the database according to selection rules. It consists of a concurrent Unix server that handles incoming logging or searching messages, a Motif browser that can view incoming messages in real-time or display stored data in the database, a client daemon that buffers and sends logging messages to the server, and libraries that can be used by applications to send data to or retrieve data from the database via the server. This paper presents the design and implementation of the CMLOG system meanwhile it will also address the issue of integration of CMLOG into existing control systems. CMLOG into existing control systems

  9. Message films in Africa: A look into the past

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rachael Diang′a

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Message Film-making has characterised much of films produced in post-independent Kenya. The country produced very few films in the 1980s, when indigenous film-making actually began to take root. Liberalisation of the economy, embracement of the digital technology and democratization in the 1990s paved way for a more stable film culture in the decade. A more promising growth of the film industry has been largely witnessed since the turn of the 21st century. Through this period, I note a strong tendency to produce films that are loaded with social messages deemed urgent and important to the target audience. In making these films, the film-makers hope to make a positive impact in the lives of the target audiences. These films tend to valorise the message, sometimes, neglecting the basic filmic codes, a practice that renders the films less entertaining. This endangers the growth of the industry since local films find very stiff competition from foreign films that are common on Kenyan screens. This study therefore investigates possible roots of message film-making in Africa that directly influence the tendencies in Kenya by making references to other African countries’ film experiences. My assumption is that Kenya’s cultural experiences are shared by other African countries.

  10. Hand hygiene posters: selling the message.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jenner, E A; Jones, F; Fletcher, B C; Miller, L; Scott, G M

    2005-02-01

    This literature review was undertaken to determine the established theory and research that might be utilized to inform the construction of persuasive messages on hand hygiene posters. It discusses the principles of message framing and the use of fear appeals. Current theory suggests that the most effective messages for health promotion behaviours should be framed in terms of gains rather than losses for the individual. However, as clinical hand hygiene is largely for the benefit of others (i.e. patients), messages should also invoke a sense of personal responsibility and appeal to altruistic behaviour. The use of repeated minimal fear appeals have their place. Posters that simply convey training messages are not effective persuaders.

  11. The effects of matching a persuasive message to a recipient's self-concept on attitude change

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Branković Marija

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available The paper addresses the question of whether matching a persuasive message to a recipient's self-concept can enhance message processing. A large body of experiments within the Elaboration likelihood model proved that framing a message so as to be perceived as selfrelevant led to more careful argument scrutiny. In this research, we matched the messages with previously assessed need for cognition - tendency to engage in and enjoy effortful cognitive tasks. Two possible sources of motivation to process a persuasive message were hereby confronted: dispositional (cognitive style and situational (matching. Results showed a significant attitude change, but the main hypothesis was not confirmed: matched messages did not produce more argument processing activity than the mismatched. Manipulations did not have any significant effects on message processing of the high need for cognition participants. Contrary to expectations, participants low in their need for cognition elaborated the message more carefully when it was mismatched, that is when the message addressed them as persons inclined to careful thinking. Results can be explained within the framework of self-affirmation theory, which argues that providing people with an opportunity to affirm their sense of selfworth makes them more open to persuasion attempts, as well as more objective. Results are discussed from a wider theoretical and empirical perspective of motivation.

  12. Using Visual Metaphors in Health Messages: A Strategy to Increase Effectiveness for Mental Illness Communication.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lazard, Allison J; Bamgbade, Benita A; Sontag, Jennah M; Brown, Carolyn

    2016-12-01

    Depression is highly prevalent among college students. Although treatment is often available on university campuses, many stigma-based barriers prevent students from seeking help. Communication strategies, such as the use of metaphors, are needed to reduce barriers. Specially, the use of visual metaphors, as a strategic message design tactic, may be an effective communication strategy to increase message appeal and engagement. Using a 2-phase approach, this study first identified common metaphors students use to conceptualize mental illness. Messages incorporating conceptual and visual metaphors were then designed and tested to determine their potential in reducing stigma. Participants (n = 256) were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 conditions in a between-subjects experiment: messages with visual and textual metaphors, messages with straightforward visuals and textual metaphors, text-based metaphor messages, or a control group. Overall, metaphorical messages are appealing, the use of visual metaphors leads to greater message engagement, and messages based on conceptual metaphors have the potential to reduce stigma. The use of conceptual and visual metaphors in campaign design is an effective strategy to communicate about a complex health topic, such as mental illness, and should be considered for use in campaigns to reduce barriers for help-seeking behavior.

  13. Messaging Attacks on Android: Vulnerabilities and Intrusion Detection

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Khodor Hamandi

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Currently, Android is the leading mobile operating system in number of users worldwide. On the security side, Android has had significant challenges despite the efforts of the Android designers to provide a secure environment for apps. In this paper, we present numerous attacks targeting the messaging framework of the Android system. Our focus is on SMS, USSD, and the evolution of their associated security in Android and accordingly the development of related attacks. Also, we shed light on the Android elements that are responsible for these attacks. Furthermore, we present the architecture of an intrusion detection system (IDS that promises to thwart SMS messaging attacks. Our IDS shows a detection rate of 87.50% with zero false positives.

  14. Privacy implications of presence sharing in mobile messaging applications

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Buchenscheit, Andreas; Könings, Bastian; Neubert, Andreas; Schaub, Florian; Schneider, Matthias; Kargl, Frank

    2014-01-01

    Mobile messaging applications, such as WhatsApp, provide a free alternative for mobile texting on smartphones. Mobile messengers typically also share presence information about users to indicate when a user is online. We investigated the privacy implications of such presence updates, using WhatsApp

  15. The message development tool: a case for effective operationalization of messaging in social marketing practice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mattson, Marifran; Basu, Ambar

    2010-07-01

    That messages are essential, if not the most critical component of any communicative process, seems like an obvious claim. More so when the communication is about health--one of the most vital and elemental of human experiences (Babrow & Mattson, 2003). Any communication campaign that aims to change a target audience's health behaviors needs to centralize messages. Even though messaging strategies are an essential component of social marketing and are a widely used campaign model, health campaigns based on this framework have not always been able to effectively operationalize this key component, leading to cases where initiating and sustaining prescribed health behavior has been difficult (MacStravic, 2000). Based on an examination of the VERB campaign and an Australian breastfeeding promotion campaign, we propose a message development tool within the ambit of the social marketing framework that aims to extend the framework and ensure that the messaging component of the model is contextualized at the core of planning, implementation, and evaluation efforts.

  16. Extending Prior Posts in Dyadic Online Text Chat

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tudini, Vincenza

    2015-01-01

    This study explores whether chat users are able to extend prior, apparently completed posts in the dyadic online text chat context. Dyadic text chat has a unique turn-taking system, and most chat softwares do not permit users to monitor one another's written messages-in-progress. This is likely to impact on their use of online extensions as an…

  17. Message exchange in the building industry

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Vries, de B.; Somers, L.J.A.M.

    1995-01-01

    A process model is described for exchanging information in the building industry. In this model participants send and receive messages. On receipt of a message an activity is executed if all required information is available. Otherwise a message will be sent to another participant to obtain the

  18. The effect of daily small text message reminders for medicine compliance amongst young people connected with the outpatient department for child and adolescent psychiatry

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bjørnholt, Karsten; Christiansen, Erik; Attermann Stokholm, Kristine

    2016-01-01

    after 6 months. Aim: In this study we investigated whether text message reminders could improve medicine compliance amongst vulnerable young people with psychiatric disorders who were being treated in the outpatient department for child and adolescent psychiatry and who either are under or were......Background: Many patients with psychiatric illnesses have difficulty maintaining medication over time. Many take their medicine irregularly and studies show that it is the most vulnerable patients who have the greatest problems adhering to treatment. Often only 50% are still under medical treatment...... to commence medicinal treatment. Methods: This study was conducted as a randomized controlled trial including all non-acute referrals to an outpatient department for adolescent psychiatry within a group aged 15-20 years starting medical treatment. The patients were followed until the end of their treatment...

  19. Recent computer attacks via Instant Messaging

    CERN Multimedia

    IT Department

    2008-01-01

    Be cautious of any unexpected messages containing web links even if they appear to come from known contacts. If you happen to click on such a link and if your permission is requested to run or install software, always decline it. Several computers at CERN have recently been broken into by attackers who have tricked users of Instant Messaging applications (e.g. MSN, Yahoo Messenger, etc.) into clicking on web links which appeared to come from known contacts. The links appeared to be photos from ‘friends’ and requested software to be installed. In practice, attacker software was installed and the messages did not come from real contacts. In the past such fake messages were mainly sent by email but now a wider range of applications are being targeted, including Instant Messaging. Cybercriminals are making growing use of fake messages to try to trick you into clicking on Web links which will help them to install malicious software on your computer. Anti-virus software cann...

  20. Auctioning Bulk Mobile Messages

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    S. Meij (Simon); L-F. Pau (Louis-François); H.W.G.M. van Heck (Eric)

    2003-01-01

    textabstractThe search for enablers of continued growth of SMS traffic, as well as the take-off of the more diversified MMS message contents, open up for enterprises the potential of bulk use of mobile messaging , instead of essentially one-by-one use. In parallel, such enterprises or value added