Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 20, 2026
Method of Studying Palatal Fusion using Static Organ Culture
Published on: September 19, 2015
Role of mobile health on patient enrollment for cleft lip-palate surgery: A comparative study using SMS blast text
Shekhar K Gadkaree1, Travis T Tollefson2, Jennifer C Fuller1
1Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Department of Otolaryngology, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Harvard Medical School Boston Massachusetts U.S.A.
Background:
Patients' lack of awareness of available services is a significant barrier to delivering surgical care in resource-limited settings. Short message service (SMS) text messaging is a potential means to disseminate this information in resource-limited settings, where rates of mobile phone usage are high.
Methods:
A blast SMS text informing local populations of upcoming cleft lip-palate (CLP) surgical services was distributed to 25% of the subscriber base 1 week prior to arrival of a (CLP) surgical team in Zimbabwe. A retrospective cohort analysis comparing characteristics of patients presenting to the CLP clinic in the year prior to (2016) and 2 years following (2017-2018) the implementation of the blast SMS text messaging system is performed to assess its impact.
Results:
Patients presenting to a single Zimbabwean CLP surgical program in the years with SMS messaging notifications were significantly more likely (52 [64%] vs. 5 [17%], P < .001) to have been informed of surgical services through their mobile phones. The average distance traveled per patient was not significantly different prior to implementation of mass text messaging (180.4 km [SD114.8] vs. 167.4 km [SD105.9], P = .580). The average patient age was significantly higher following the implementation of mass text messaging (7.4 [SD8.7] vs. 3.0 [SD2.8] years, P = .010).
Conclusions:
SMS messaging is an effective method of informing patients of CLP surgical services in resource-limited settings. After implementation of SMS text notifications, surgical patients were of increased age, but showed no difference in distance traveled.
Level Of Evidence:
IV.
Related Concept Videos
01:25Role of Vitamins in Maintaining Bone Health
Vitamin A
Vitamin A is involved in the process of bone remodeling. Retinoic acid, the active metabolite of Vitamin A, has nuclear receptors in osteoblasts and osteoclasts, which are involved in bone remodeling.
Vitamin B12
Vitamin B12 acts as a cofactor during the formation of osteoblast-related proteins, such as osteocalcin. Vitamin B12 plays a role...
01:21Health Literacy
01:15Bioavailability Study Design: Healthy Subjects Versus Patients
02:26Comparing Copy Number Variations and SNPs
Copy number variations or CNVs are the structural variations that cover more than 1kb of DNA sequence. The single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), on the other hand, is a single nucleotide change or a point mutation that is found in more than 1%...
01:11Purpose of Health Records I
Here's a breakdown of how health records serve these purposes:
01:19Purpose of Health Records II