What the study found
Automated, behaviorally informed text message reminders were associated with higher fecal immunochemical test (FIT) completion than a nurse-led telephone call in this trial. The FIT is a low-cost stool test used for colorectal cancer screening.
Why the authors say this matters
The authors say scalable outreach strategies are needed to improve colorectal cancer screening uptake and reduce staff burden in safety-net settings. They conclude that automated messaging may offer a scalable, low-cost strategy to promote preventive care in underserved populations.
What the researchers tested
This was a quality improvement randomized clinical trial at 8 Federally Qualified Health Centers in Brooklyn, New York, from April 7 to June 24, 2025. Adults with a new FIT order who preferred English, Spanish, or Chinese and had not opted out of texting were randomized to receive either 3 automated one-way text reminders on days 2, 5, and 8 or a single nurse-led telephone call on day 8.
What worked and what didn't
FIT completion within 21 days was 58.9% in the text group and 49.8% in the telephone group, an absolute difference of 9.0 percentage points. Post hoc analyses found no evidence that the effect differed by age, sex, race and ethnicity, or patient portal use.
What to keep in mind
The abstract describes a quality improvement trial in one health system and does not provide broader limitations beyond the study setting and eligibility criteria. Secondary outcomes were assessed at 7 and 14 days, but the abstract does not report their detailed results.
Key points
- Automated text reminders were associated with higher FIT completion than a nurse-led phone call.
- FIT completion within 21 days was 58.9% in the text group versus 49.8% in the telephone group.
- The absolute difference in completion was 9.0 percentage points.
- No evidence of different effectiveness was found by age, sex, race and ethnicity, or patient portal use.
- The trial was conducted at 8 Federally Qualified Health Centers in Brooklyn, New York.
Disclosure
- Research title:
- Text messaging improved FIT completion over telephone outreach
- Authors:
- Olivia Korostoff-Larsson, William C. King, Elan Pelegrí, Doreen Colella, Isaac Dapkins, Kelly Eng, Nathan Klapheke, Holly Krelle, Nicholas Mahieu, Erika McManus, George Shahin, Molly Woodriff, Leora Horwitz, Arielle Elmaleh-Sachs
- Institutions:
- New York University, Lutheran Family Health Centers, NYU Langone Health
- Publication date:
- 2026-04-23
- OpenAlex record:
- View
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