Short message service (SMS) text messaging is the most frequently used mobile health (mHealth) technology, given its accessibility to older and medically complex patients. Since over 80 percent of patients receiving dialysis own mobile phones, mHealth-based technologies could be a promising means of survey administration among these patients.
In a study in Kidney Medicine, Dr. Sri Lekha Tummalapalli, a Nanette Laitman clinical scholar and assistant professor of population health sciences and medicine, and colleagues assessed the reach, acceptability, and patient preferences of a mobile health-based survey to assess COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among patients receiving dialysis.
The SMS-based survey had moderate reach and was a highly acceptable mode of survey administration. However, survey response rates were lower in older individuals, racial and ethnic minorities, and patients living in socially vulnerable neighborhoods. These findings can potentially be used to improve the speed, scalability, and costs of survey administration among chronically ill populations with multiple comorbid conditions.
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