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Secondary Impact of Social Media via Text Message Screening for Type 2 Diabetes Risk in Kuwait: Survey Study

BACKGROUND: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is an international problem of alarming epidemic proportions. T2DM can develop due to multiple factors, and it usually begins with prediabetes. Fortunately, this disease can be prevented by following a healthy lifestyle. However, many health care systems f...

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Autores principales: Alqabandi, Naeema, Al-Ozairi, Ebaa, Ahmed, Adel, Ross, Edgar L, Jamison, Robert N
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: JMIR Publications 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7691091/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33180021
http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/20532
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author Alqabandi, Naeema
Al-Ozairi, Ebaa
Ahmed, Adel
Ross, Edgar L
Jamison, Robert N
author_facet Alqabandi, Naeema
Al-Ozairi, Ebaa
Ahmed, Adel
Ross, Edgar L
Jamison, Robert N
author_sort Alqabandi, Naeema
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is an international problem of alarming epidemic proportions. T2DM can develop due to multiple factors, and it usually begins with prediabetes. Fortunately, this disease can be prevented by following a healthy lifestyle. However, many health care systems fail to properly educate the public on disease prevention and to offer support in embracing behavioral interventions to prevent diabetes. SMS messaging has been combined with cost-effective ways to reach out to the population at risk for medical comorbidities. To our knowledge, the use of nationwide SMS messaging in the Middle East as a screening tool to identify individuals who might be at risk of developing T2DM has not been reported in the literature. OBJECTIVE: The primary aim of this study was to assess the feasibility of conducting a series of SMS messaging campaigns directed at random smartphone users in Kuwait for the detection and prevention of T2DM. It was predicted that 1% of those receiving the text message would find it relevant and participate in the study. The secondary aim of this study was to assess the incidence of participation of those who were forwarded the initial text message by family members and friends. METHODS: In this study, 5 separate text message screening campaigns were launched inviting recipients to answer 6 questions to determine the risk of developing T2DM. If subjects agreed to participate, a link to the prediabetes screening test devised by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was automatically transmitted to their mobile devices. Those identified as high risk were invited to participate in a diabetes prevention program. RESULTS: A total of 180,000 SMSs were sent to approximately 6% of the adult population in Kuwait. Of these, 0.14% (260/180,000) of the individuals who received the SMS agreed to participate, of whom 58.8% (153/260) completed the screening. Surprisingly, additional surveys were completed by 367 individuals who were invited via circulated SMS messages forwarded by family members and friends. Altogether, 23.3% (121/520) qualified and agreed to participate in a diabetes prevention program. The majority of those who chose to participate in the prevention program were overweight, aged 45-65 years, and reported being less physically active than those who chose not to participate (χ(2)(2)=42.1, P<.001). CONCLUSIONS: Although health care screening via text messaging was found to have limited effectiveness by itself, it exhibited increased reach through shared second-party social media messaging. Despite the fact a subpopulation at possible risk of developing T2DM could be reached via text messaging, most responders were informed about the screening campaign by family and friends. Future research should be designed to tap into the benefits of social media use in health risk campaigns.
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spelling pubmed-76910912020-11-30 Secondary Impact of Social Media via Text Message Screening for Type 2 Diabetes Risk in Kuwait: Survey Study Alqabandi, Naeema Al-Ozairi, Ebaa Ahmed, Adel Ross, Edgar L Jamison, Robert N JMIR Diabetes Original Paper BACKGROUND: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is an international problem of alarming epidemic proportions. T2DM can develop due to multiple factors, and it usually begins with prediabetes. Fortunately, this disease can be prevented by following a healthy lifestyle. However, many health care systems fail to properly educate the public on disease prevention and to offer support in embracing behavioral interventions to prevent diabetes. SMS messaging has been combined with cost-effective ways to reach out to the population at risk for medical comorbidities. To our knowledge, the use of nationwide SMS messaging in the Middle East as a screening tool to identify individuals who might be at risk of developing T2DM has not been reported in the literature. OBJECTIVE: The primary aim of this study was to assess the feasibility of conducting a series of SMS messaging campaigns directed at random smartphone users in Kuwait for the detection and prevention of T2DM. It was predicted that 1% of those receiving the text message would find it relevant and participate in the study. The secondary aim of this study was to assess the incidence of participation of those who were forwarded the initial text message by family members and friends. METHODS: In this study, 5 separate text message screening campaigns were launched inviting recipients to answer 6 questions to determine the risk of developing T2DM. If subjects agreed to participate, a link to the prediabetes screening test devised by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was automatically transmitted to their mobile devices. Those identified as high risk were invited to participate in a diabetes prevention program. RESULTS: A total of 180,000 SMSs were sent to approximately 6% of the adult population in Kuwait. Of these, 0.14% (260/180,000) of the individuals who received the SMS agreed to participate, of whom 58.8% (153/260) completed the screening. Surprisingly, additional surveys were completed by 367 individuals who were invited via circulated SMS messages forwarded by family members and friends. Altogether, 23.3% (121/520) qualified and agreed to participate in a diabetes prevention program. The majority of those who chose to participate in the prevention program were overweight, aged 45-65 years, and reported being less physically active than those who chose not to participate (χ(2)(2)=42.1, P<.001). CONCLUSIONS: Although health care screening via text messaging was found to have limited effectiveness by itself, it exhibited increased reach through shared second-party social media messaging. Despite the fact a subpopulation at possible risk of developing T2DM could be reached via text messaging, most responders were informed about the screening campaign by family and friends. Future research should be designed to tap into the benefits of social media use in health risk campaigns. JMIR Publications 2020-11-12 /pmc/articles/PMC7691091/ /pubmed/33180021 http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/20532 Text en ©Naeema Alqabandi, Ebaa Al-Ozairi, Adel Ahmed, Edgar L Ross, Robert N Jamison. Originally published in JMIR Diabetes (http://diabetes.jmir.org), 12.11.2020. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published in JMIR Diabetes, is properly cited. The complete bibliographic information, a link to the original publication on http://diabetes.jmir.org/, as well as this copyright and license information must be included.
spellingShingle Original Paper
Alqabandi, Naeema
Al-Ozairi, Ebaa
Ahmed, Adel
Ross, Edgar L
Jamison, Robert N
Secondary Impact of Social Media via Text Message Screening for Type 2 Diabetes Risk in Kuwait: Survey Study
title Secondary Impact of Social Media via Text Message Screening for Type 2 Diabetes Risk in Kuwait: Survey Study
title_full Secondary Impact of Social Media via Text Message Screening for Type 2 Diabetes Risk in Kuwait: Survey Study
title_fullStr Secondary Impact of Social Media via Text Message Screening for Type 2 Diabetes Risk in Kuwait: Survey Study
title_full_unstemmed Secondary Impact of Social Media via Text Message Screening for Type 2 Diabetes Risk in Kuwait: Survey Study
title_short Secondary Impact of Social Media via Text Message Screening for Type 2 Diabetes Risk in Kuwait: Survey Study
title_sort secondary impact of social media via text message screening for type 2 diabetes risk in kuwait: survey study
topic Original Paper
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7691091/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33180021
http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/20532
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