A Taxonomic Integrative Review of Short Message Service (SMS) Methodology: A Framework for Improved Diabetic Outcomes

To acquire self-management skills that affect clinical outcomes, collaboration and communication with one's health care team is essential, yet many health care systems are not designed adequately to be responsive to a patient's efforts to self-manage. This review synthesizes the intervention methodology of current studies facilitating the efforts of health care providers who wish to design, develop, and implement evidence-based SMS programs for patients with diabetes, focusing on clinical outcomes of A1C values, medication adherence rates, and participant satisfaction.

This integrative review was conducted using an integrative taxonomic analysis approach. This approach involves creating a classification system with domains or characteristics, defining the relationships between those domains, and creating a foundation for new theories or constructs.

Synthesis of the evidence included in this integrated review suggests the best design for a SMS diabetes management program aimed at improving A1C levels, medication adherence rates, and participant satisfaction is an intervention providing weekly SMS education, with 2-way message direction, that is 3 months in length.

The studies in this review have demonstrated that SMS interventions can be an important part of a viable and effective program in the effort to better manage adults with type 2 diabetes.