SynthesisPloS one2019
One-way SMS and healthcare outcomes in Africa: Systematic review of randomised trials with meta-analysis.
Synthesis in PloS one, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 32 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
32 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Effectiveness of mHealth Apps for Maternal Health Care Delivery: Systematic Review of Systematic Reviews.Journal of medical Internet research · 2024Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Diabetes self-care intervention strategies and their effectiveness in Sub-Saharan Africa: A systematic review.PloS one · 2024Pooled it
- The Influence of Design and Implementation Characteristics on the Use of Maternal Mobile Health Interventions in Kenya: Systematic Literature Review.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2022Pooled it
- Pooled it
- mHealth interventions to reduce maternal and child mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia: A systematic literature review.Frontiers in global women's health · 2022Pooled it
- Short message service (SMS) reminders for childhood immunisation in low-income and middle-income countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMJ global health · 2021Pooled it
- Process evaluation of a brief messaging intervention to improve diabetes treatment adherence in sub-Saharan Africa.BMC public health · 2021Trial
- Effect of Mobile Phone Text Message Reminders on the Completion and Timely Receipt of Routine Childhood Vaccinations: Superiority Randomized Controlled Trial in Northwest Ethiopia.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2021Trial
- Effectiveness of One-Way Text Messaging on Attendance to Follow-Up Cervical Cancer Screening Among Human Papillomavirus-Positive Tanzanian Women (Connected2Care): Parallel-Group Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of medical Internet research · 2020Trial
- Integrating clinical decision support and mobile health for differentiated HIV service delivery in Lesotho (VITAL): a cluster-randomised non-inferiority trial.EClinicalMedicine · 2026Article
- Article
- Cross-context qualitative synthesis of a mobile obstetric referral emergency system (MORES) in Ghana and Liberia.PloS one · 2026Article
- Looking under the hood of a hybrid two-way texting intervention to improve early retention on antiretroviral therapy in Malawi: an implementation fidelity evaluation.Implementation science : IS · 2025Article
- Mobile health interventions on vaccination coverage among children under 5 years of age in Low and Middle-Income countries; a scoping review.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Looking under the hood of a hybrid two-way texting intervention to improve early retention on antiretroviral therapy in Malawi: an implementation fidelity evaluation.Research square · 2024Article
- Limitations of Using Mobile Phones for Managing Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) Among Youth in Low and Middle-Income Countries: Implications for mHealth.Proceedings of the ACM on human-computer interaction · 2024Article
- Article
- Effect of Phone Text Message Reminders on Compliance with Rabies Post-Exposure Prophylaxis following Dog Bites in Rural Kenya.Vaccines · 2023Article
- Implementation and scaling-up of an effective mHealth intervention to increase adherence to triage of HPV-positive women (ATICA study): perceptions of health decision-makers and health-care providers.BMC health services research · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe impact of one-way SMS on health outcomes in Africa is unclear. We aimed to conduct a systematic review of one-way SMS randomised trials in Africa and a meta-analysis of their effect on healthcare appointments attendance and medicine adherence.
methodsPubMed, Embase, CENTRAL, The Global Health Library, ClinicalTrials.gov, ICTRP, and PACTR were searched for published and unpublished trials in Africa without language restriction (up to April 2018). Trials reporting effect estimates on healthcare appointment attendance and medicine adherence were assessed for risk of bias and included in meta-analyses using random-effects models. Other outcomes were reported descriptively. The protocol is registered in PROSPERO, ID:CRD42018081062.
resultsWe included 38 one-way SMS trials conducted in Africa within a broad range of clinical conditions. Eighteen trials were included in the meta-analyses, and four were assessed as overall low risk of bias. One-way SMS improved appointment attendance, OR:2·03; 95% CI:1·40-2·95 (12 trials, 6448 participants), but not medicine adherence, RR:1·10; 95% CI:0·98-1·23 (nine trials, 4213 participants). Subgroup analyses showed that one-way SMS had the highest impact on childhood immunization attendance, OR:3·69; 95% CI:1·67-8·13 (three trials, 1943 participants). There was no clear evidence of one-way SMS improving facility delivery, knowledge level (reproductive/antenatal health, hypertension), diabetes- and hypertension management.
conclusionIn an African setting, the clinical effect of one-way SMS is uncertain except for appointment attendance where the effect seems to vary depending on which clinical condition it is used in.
Indexed as
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.