Health & Medicine
Post-ER Follow-Up Text Messages Help Patients Improve Health
Kathleen Lees
First Posted: Nov 11, 2013 08:05 PM EST
A recent study shows that diabetic patients who had post-ER follow-up via text messaged showed improved levels of control over their diabetes and medication adherence.
"Our results were especially pronounced for Latinos, who are twice as likely as non-Latinos to develop diabetes," lead study author Sanjay Arora, MD, of the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles said, via a press release. "These patients, when followed up by text messages for 6 months, improved enough to reduce their dependence on the emergency department for care of their diabetes. Text messaging is effective, low-cost and widely available for our patients who often have no other source of medical care."
Background information from the study notes that adult patients with poorly controlled diabetes that visited urban, public emergency departments for care received two daily text messages throughout a six month period. Patients who received the text messages showed a decreased glucose level by 1.05 percent and self-reported medication adherence improved from 4.5 to 5.4 percent. Effects were even larger among Spanish speakers, according to the study.
The text messaging program, called TExT-MED, included daily motivational messages such as "Having diabetes can lead to a heart attack or stroke - but it doesn't have to" and "Eat more fruits, vegetables, beans and whole grains and less salt and fat." In addition, it provided three medication reminders per week, two healthy living challenges per week and two trivia questions per week, designed to build diabetes awareness (sample: "Trivia" Eating too much sugar and other sweet foods is a cause of diabetes. A. True. B. False.").
"Diabetes is emerging as a public health epidemic, particularly in low-income, underserved inner city and minority populations who depend on safety-net systems for medical care," Dr Arora said, via a release. "Our goal is to transition our patients from crisis management to long-term diabetes management. In the absence of other health care options, reaching our patients by text message makes us partners in handling their disease and improves their quality of life."
More information regarding the study can be found via the Annals of Emergency Medicine.
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First Posted: Nov 11, 2013 08:05 PM EST
A recent study shows that diabetic patients who had post-ER follow-up via text messaged showed improved levels of control over their diabetes and medication adherence.
"Our results were especially pronounced for Latinos, who are twice as likely as non-Latinos to develop diabetes," lead study author Sanjay Arora, MD, of the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles said, via a press release. "These patients, when followed up by text messages for 6 months, improved enough to reduce their dependence on the emergency department for care of their diabetes. Text messaging is effective, low-cost and widely available for our patients who often have no other source of medical care."
Background information from the study notes that adult patients with poorly controlled diabetes that visited urban, public emergency departments for care received two daily text messages throughout a six month period. Patients who received the text messages showed a decreased glucose level by 1.05 percent and self-reported medication adherence improved from 4.5 to 5.4 percent. Effects were even larger among Spanish speakers, according to the study.
The text messaging program, called TExT-MED, included daily motivational messages such as "Having diabetes can lead to a heart attack or stroke - but it doesn't have to" and "Eat more fruits, vegetables, beans and whole grains and less salt and fat." In addition, it provided three medication reminders per week, two healthy living challenges per week and two trivia questions per week, designed to build diabetes awareness (sample: "Trivia" Eating too much sugar and other sweet foods is a cause of diabetes. A. True. B. False.").
"Diabetes is emerging as a public health epidemic, particularly in low-income, underserved inner city and minority populations who depend on safety-net systems for medical care," Dr Arora said, via a release. "Our goal is to transition our patients from crisis management to long-term diabetes management. In the absence of other health care options, reaching our patients by text message makes us partners in handling their disease and improves their quality of life."
More information regarding the study can be found via the Annals of Emergency Medicine.
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone