Mobile Phone Text Messages Improve Malaria Treatment

In rural Kenya, one-way communication of text-message reminders about pediatric malaria case management improved health workers' adherence to treatment guidelines.

Mobile phones are now used widely throughout the world. To assess whether use of this technology could improve management practices for malaria, investigators conducted a cluster-randomized, controlled trial at rural government health facilities in two malaria-endemic areas in Kenya.

Health workers performing outpatient consultations at facilities in the intervention group received text messages about pediatric malaria case management on their personal mobile phones from May through October 2009. The short messages, sent twice daily from Monday through Friday, each included a motivating or attention-getting quote that was unrelated to malaria case management (e.g., “little by little one walks far”) and communicated a key aspect of outpatient…

Reviewing Author

Mary E. Wilson, MD

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardOneHealthTrust (formerly Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics, and Policy); Global Health Institute, University of Wisconsin

RoyaltiesUpToDate

Editorial BoardsJournal of Travel Medicine

Mary E. Wilson, MD

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardOneHealthTrust (formerly Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics, and Policy); Global Health Institute, University of Wisconsin

RoyaltiesUpToDate

Editorial BoardsJournal of Travel Medicine