View in EDS

A randomised controlled trial of an SMS-based mobile epilepsy education system.

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Title: A randomised controlled trial of an SMS-based mobile epilepsy education system.
Authors: Lua, Pei Lin1 peilinlua@unisza.edu.my, Neni, Widiasmoro Selamat1
Source: Journal of Telemedicine & Telecare. 1/1/2013, Vol. 19 Issue 1, p23-28. 6p. 1 Diagram, 5 Charts.
Abstract: We evaluated an epilepsy education programme based on text messaging (SMS). Epilepsy outpatients from three hospitals in Malaysia were randomised into two groups: intervention and control. Patients in the control group were supplied with printed epilepsy educational material while those in the intervention group also received text messages from the Mobile Epilepsy Educational System (MEES). A total of 136 patients completed the study (mean age 31 years; 91% Malay; 51% with an illness duration of more than 5 years). A between-group analysis showed that the awareness, knowledge and attitudes (AKA) about epilepsy did not significantly differ between the groups at baseline (P . 0.05). The intervention patients reported better AKA levels during follow-up compared to the control patients (P, 0.05). A within-group analysis showed that in intervention patients, there were significant improvements in all AKA domains with larger effect sizes (P, 0.01) while control patients also exhibited significant improvement in most domains except for Awareness but with smaller effect sizes. After controlling for possible confounding variables (age, gender, educational qualification, monthly income and baseline mean for each domain), the intervention group still reported significantly higher AKA than the control group particularly in Awareness (P, 0.001) and Total AKA (P ¼ 0.003). There was also significantly better medication adherence and clinic attendance in the intervention group (P, 0.05). The results suggest that the addition of the MEES to conventional epilepsy education is effective in improving AKA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Journal of Telemedicine & Telecare is the property of Sage Publications Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Engineering Source
Description
Abstract:We evaluated an epilepsy education programme based on text messaging (SMS). Epilepsy outpatients from three hospitals in Malaysia were randomised into two groups: intervention and control. Patients in the control group were supplied with printed epilepsy educational material while those in the intervention group also received text messages from the Mobile Epilepsy Educational System (MEES). A total of 136 patients completed the study (mean age 31 years; 91% Malay; 51% with an illness duration of more than 5 years). A between-group analysis showed that the awareness, knowledge and attitudes (AKA) about epilepsy did not significantly differ between the groups at baseline (P . 0.05). The intervention patients reported better AKA levels during follow-up compared to the control patients (P, 0.05). A within-group analysis showed that in intervention patients, there were significant improvements in all AKA domains with larger effect sizes (P, 0.01) while control patients also exhibited significant improvement in most domains except for Awareness but with smaller effect sizes. After controlling for possible confounding variables (age, gender, educational qualification, monthly income and baseline mean for each domain), the intervention group still reported significantly higher AKA than the control group particularly in Awareness (P, 0.001) and Total AKA (P ¼ 0.003). There was also significantly better medication adherence and clinic attendance in the intervention group (P, 0.05). The results suggest that the addition of the MEES to conventional epilepsy education is effective in improving AKA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
ISSN:1357633X
DOI:10.1177/1357633X12473920