Author/publication year/country | Study participant/sample size | Study design/methods of data collection/sampling method | Barriers to SMS-based appointment reminders | The impacts of SMS according to the objective of each study |
Geldof/2020/Burkina Faso17 | People living with HIV/3800 | RCT/semi-structured interviews and focus groups/purposive |
| Examine SMS to improve antiretroviral (ARV) retention and adherence |
Nhavoto/2018/Mozambique18 | HIV, TV patients+HCWs/141+40=181 | RCT/semi-structured interview/ not stated |
| Use of SMS for reminding appointments, medications, and sending motivational texts |
Salihu/2019/Nigeria19 | Patients/200 | RCT/questionnaire/random |
| Role of SMS reminders on the uptake of glaucoma screening |
Schroeder/ 2021/Tanzania23 | A child with cancer/40 | Cross-sectional survey/questionnaire/purposive sampling |
| Assessment of mobile phone ownership, use, and acceptability of an m-health intervention |
Adewuya/2019/Nigeria20 | Adults with depression/895 | RCT//stratified random sampling |
| Effectiveness and acceptability of mobile telephone adherence support for the management of depression |
Mekonnen/ 2021/Ethiopia24 | Mothers/23 | Qualitative/interview/purposive |
| Explore acceptability, barriers and facilitators’ text message reminders system |
Moodley/2019/South Africa25 | Cervical cancer precursor/364 | Mixed method/in-depth interview, FGD and questionnaire/stratified and purposive |
| Feasibility of m-health technology to improve management and follow-up of clients |
Dissieka/2019/Cote d’Ivoire21 | Mothers/1596 | RCT/questionnaire |
| Assess the effect of mobile voice or SMS reminders messages on health facility attendance |
Endebu/2019/Ethiopia22 | HIV clients/420 | Cross-sectional, qualitative/questionnaire and FGD/random |
| Acceptability and feasibility of SMS to improve ART medication adherence |
FGD, Focus Group Discussion; ICT, Information Communication Technology; RCT, randomised control trial; SMS, short message service.