Trial reportBMC public health2019
Pre-notification and reminder SMS text messages with behaviourally informed invitation letters to improve uptake of NHS Health Checks: a factorial randomised controlled trial.
Trial report in BMC public health, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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
18 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 53 citations in OpenAlex.
- A systematic review and meta-analysis of the effectiveness of social norms messaging approaches for improving health behaviours in developed countries.Nature human behaviour · 2025Pooled it
- A systematic review of factors influencing NHS health check uptake: invitation methods, patient characteristics, and the impact of interventions.BMC public health · 2020Pooled it
- Optimizing Web Links Used in Digital Vaccination Invitations to Raise Trust and Booking Intention: 3 Online Randomized Controlled Trials.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Trial
- Text Messaging Versus Postal Reminders to Improve Participation in a Colorectal Cancer Screening Program: Randomized Controlled Trial.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2025Trial
- Evaluating the Effectiveness of Letter and Telephone Reminders in Promoting the Use of Specific Health Guidance in an At-Risk Population for Metabolic Syndrome in Japan: A Randomized Controlled Trial.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Trial
- Can uptake of childhood influenza immunisation through schools and GP practices be increased through behaviourally-informed invitation letters and reminders: two pragmatic randomized controlled trials.BMC public health · 2023Trial
- Increasing uptake of NHS Health Checks: a randomised controlled trial using GP computer prompts.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2021Trial
- Applying behavioural science to increase uptake of the NHS Health Check: a randomised controlled trial of gain- and loss-framed messaging in the national patient information leaflet.BMC public health · 2019Trial
- Preferences for Personalized Text Message Appointment Reminders Among Outpatients in a Universal Health System: Cross-Sectional Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Article
- Agile evaluation including two pragmatic trials on the uptake of a digital screening service.NPJ digital medicine · 2025Article
- Article
- The effectiveness of interventions used to improve general health check uptake by the older adult population: a systematic review and meta-analysis.PLOS global public health · 2025Article
- The Web-Based Pain-at-Work Toolkit With Telephone Support for Employees With Chronic or Persistent Pain: Protocol for a Cluster Randomized Feasibility Trial.JMIR research protocols · 2023Article
- NHS Health Check programme: a rapid review update.BMJ open · 2022Review
- Digital Citizen Science for Responding to COVID-19 Crisis: Experiences from Iran.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
- The use of mobile phones for the prevention and control of arboviral diseases: a scoping review.BMC public health · 2021Article
- Invitations and incentives: a qualitative study of behavioral nudges for primary care screenings in Armenia.BMC health services research · 2020Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 5 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe NHS Health Check (NHS HC) is a cardiovascular risk assessment to prevent cardiovascular disease. Public Health England (PHE) wants to increase uptake.
methodsWe explored the impact of behaviourally informed invitation letters and pre-notification and reminder SMS on uptake of NHS HCs. Patients at 28 General Practices in the London Borough of Southwark who were eligible to receive an NHS HC between 1st November 2013 and 31st December 2014 were included. A double-blind randomised controlled trial with a mixed 2 (pre-notification SMS - yes or no) × 4 (letter - national template control, open-ended, time-limited, social norm) × 2 (reminder SMS - yes or no) factorial design was used. The open-ended letter used simplification, behavioural instruction and a personalised planning prompt for patients to record the date and time of their NHS HC. The time-limited letter was similar but stated the NHS HC was due in a named forthcoming month. The social norms letter was similar to the open-ended letter but included a descriptive social norms message and testimonials from local residents and no planning prompt. The outcome measure was attendance at an NHS HC.
resultsData for 12, 244 invites were analysed. Uptake increased in almost all letter and SMS combinations compared to the control letter without SMS (Uptake 18%), with increases of up to 12 percentage points for the time-limited letter with pre-notification and reminder (Uptake 30%; Adjusted Odds Ratio AOR 1.86; 95% CI 1.45-2.83; p < 0.00); 10 percentage points for the open-ended letter with reminder (Uptake 27%; AOR 1.68; 95% CI 1.31-2.17; p < 0.00) and a 9 percentage point increase using the time-limited letter with reminder (Uptake 27%; AOR 1.61; 95% CI 1.25-2.10; p < 0.00). The reminder SMS increased uptake for all intervention letters. The pre-notification did not add to this effect.
conclusionsThis large randomised controlled trial adds support to the evidence that small, low cost behaviourally informed changes to letter-based invitations can increase uptake of NHS HCs. It also provides novel evidence on the effect of SMS reminders and pre-notification on NHS HC attendance.
trial registrationRetrospectively Registered (24/01/2014) ISRCTN36027094 .
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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.