An Integrative Review of Text Message Reminders for Medical Surveillance Examinations

Abstract

The purpose of this integrative review was to evaluate the use of text message (TM) reminders to promote timely medical surveillance examinations (MSEs). Notifying employees of scheduled MSE appointments is challenging. Text messaging can be used by occupational health nurses to remind employees of needed examinations. SCOPUS was searched for relevant studies between 2005 and 2015, resulting in nine articles meeting inclusion criteria. Seven of the nine articles reported significant improvement in attendance rates, with one study demonstrating no-show rates could be reduced by 51% using TM reminders. This integrative review demonstrated that text messaging appointment reminders for MSEs could be effective.