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. 2021 Jul 30;23(7):e26759. doi: 10.2196/26759

Table 1.

Summary of included randomized controlled trials (n=30).

Study Location Type of cancer Intervention type Nature of intervention Total sample size Population Summary of intervention Outcomes
Arcas et al [29] Spain Breast mHealtha Reminder 703 Women (aged 50-69 years) with a registered mobile phone number Invitation letter and text message reminder 2 days before the mammography appointment

  • Proportion that screened for breast cancer during the 2-month rescreening period
Vidal et al [51] Barcelona, Spain Breast mHealth Reminder 12,786 Breast cancer screening target population of the southern Barcelona metropolitan area Text message reminder 3 days before a scheduled appointment with or without a message, with a new appointment date if requested

  • Proportion attending an appointment before October 31, 2011 (3-5 months after the intervention)
Kerrison et al [41] United Kingdom Breast mHealth Reminder 2240 Women (aged 47-53 years) who were due to be invited for their first routine breast screen Text message reminder 48 hours before the appointment and an additional text message if they did not attend the initial appointment

  • Proportion attending the appointment within 60 days of the initial appointment
Rashid et al [47] Klang, Malaysia Cervical mHealth Reminder 1000 Women (aged 20-65 years) residing in Klang who had a nonpositive Papanicolaou test in the previous year and were due for repeat screening Text message reminder for a repeat Papanicolaou test within a month from the date of recall

  • Proportion completing the Papanicolaou test within 8 weeks
Wanyoro and Kabiru [52] Thika, Kenya Cervical mHealth Reminder 286 Women (aged 25-70 years) attending the general outpatient clinic who had never had cervical cancer screening, who owned a mobile phone, and who had normal cervical Papanicolaou test after the initial baseline screening 4 text message reminders in a period of 2 weeks

  • Proportion screened for cervical cancer at the same site within 2 weeks
Huf et al [39] United Kingdom Cervical mHealth Reminder 14,587 Women (aged 24-64 years) 1 of 6 text message reminders: a simple reminder, general practice endorsement, total and proportional social norms messages, and gain- and loss-framed messages

  • Proportion who screened within 18 weeks after the reminder
Sly et al [50] New York, United States CRCb mHealth Reminder 24 Adults (aged >50 years) with referral for screening colonoscopy with no personal or family history of CRC or any chronic gastrointestinal disorder, with telephone service, and who spoke English Standard navigation, a scheduling telephone call and 2 text message appointment reminders

  • Colonoscopy completion within 3 months
Hagoel et al [36] Israel CRC mHealth Reminder 48,091 Adults (aged 50-74 years) with no diagnosis of an inflammatory bowel disease or a bowel malignancy, who had not undergone colonoscopy within the previous 3 years, and who had not performed FOBTc in the previous year Text message reminders including interrogative or noninterrogative messages

  • Proportion completing FOBT at 6 months
Coronado et al [32] United States CRC mHealth Reminder 2010 Adults (aged 50-75 years) not up to date with CRC screening and with a clinic visit in the previous year 2 text message reminders with or without a live phone call

  • FITd kit return rate
Hirst et al [38] United Kingdom CRC mHealth Reminder 8269 Adults (aged 60-74 years) Usual care and a text message reminder if they had not returned their test kit within 8 weeks

  • Proportion returning test kit at the end of an 18-week screening episode
Lam et al [61] Hong Kong CRC mHealth Reminder 500 Adults (aged 40-70 years) who were asymptomatic and had a previous negative FIT test and who were expected for an annual FIT screening in the subsequent year A WhatsApp message reminder sent 1 month before the due date for subsequent FIT

  • Proportion successfully returning the FIT kit
Coronado et al [33] Los Angeles, United States CRC mHealth Reminder 1767 Adults (aged 50-75 years) who were overdue for CRC screening and had attended at least two clinic visits within the past 24 months Text message prompt before receipt of the FIT kit with 2 automated phone call reminders or with 2 automated phone calls and up to 3 live phone call reminders

  • Proportion completing the FIT kit within 6 months
Hwang et al [40] United States CRC Social media Peer support 306 Adults (aged 50-75 years) who had no previous diagnosis of CRC, had no history of inflammatory bowel disease, and were not up to date with CRC screening Study-specific web-based SparkTeam to access the narratives and interact with the narrators (positive role models) and other participants

  • Proportion screened for CRC at 6 months (FOBT, sigmoidoscopy, or colonoscopy)
Lakkis et al [43] Beirut, Lebanon Breast mHealth Mixed (education and reminder) 385 Women (aged 40-75 years) who had not undergone a mammogram in the past 2 years Educational and general invitation text message for mammography and 3 additional text reminders

  • Completion of a mammography
Chung et al [31] Republic of Korea Breast mHealth Mixed (education and reminder) 202 Women (aged 20-65 years) who underwent surgery for breast cancer, excluding those with distant metastasis or recurrent breast cancer Usual care and 1 text message reminder and 1 educational text message

  • Adherent to monthly BSEe for 5 out of 6 months
Heydari and Noroozi [37] Bushehr, Iran Breast mHealth Mixed (education and reminder) 120 Women (aged ≥40 years) who were elementary school teachers, were not pregnant or breast-feeding, had no history of cancer, had no family history of breast cancer, had not had breast biopsy experience and mammography in the past 3 years Multimedia education session through a CD and text messages; 1-2 educational text messages sent on a weekly basis for 1 month and a reminder about mammography

  • Proportion completing mammography

  • Intention to get a mammography
Lee et al [44] Minnesota, United States Breast mHealth Mixed (education and navigation) 131 Korean American immigrant women (aged 40-79 years) who had not received a mammogram in the past 2 years mMammogram mobile app delivering 8-21 messages over a 7-day period

  • Proportion receiving mammography or with a scheduled appointment within 6 months

  • Intention to receive a mammography in the future on a 4-point scale (1=not within a year, 2=within a year, 3=within 3 months, and 4=within 1 month)
Khademolhosseini et al [42] Bushehr, Iran Cervical mHealth Mixed (education and reminder) 95 Women who were able to read and write, were married for at least 6 months, had a smartphone, had no history of genital tract cancer in their family, and had no experience of doing a Papanicolaou smear test in the past 3 years Educational training through text messaging, electronic posters, infographics, podcasts, and video tutorial and a reminder to perform a Papanicolaou smear test

  • Completion of the Papanicolaou test within 3 months
Richman et al [49] North Carolina, United States Cervical or rectal mHealth Mixed (education and reminder) 264 Adults (aged 18-26 years) who attended the university and who were voluntarily initiating the first HPVf vaccine dose from the campus student health center 7 electronic email or text messages once per month for 7 months

  • Proportion completing HPV dose 3 vaccine
Adler et al [62] United States Cervical mHealth Mixed (education and reminder) 95 Women (aged 21-65 years) with no past hysterectomy with cervical removal or known HIV infection Referral and 3 text messages delivered at 30-day intervals over a period of 90 days after enrollment

  • Proportion who underwent cervical cancer screening 150 days after enrollment
Erwin et al [34] Kilimanjaro and Arusha regions, Tanzania Cervical mHealth Mixed (education and reminder) 851 Women (aged 25-49 years) with access to a mobile phone living in the catchment areas of Mawenzi Regional Referral Hospital and Meru District Hospital 15 unique text messages delivered over 21 days with or without a transportation e -voucher covering return transportation to the nearest screening clinic

  • Proportion attending cervical cancer screening within 60 days
Firmino-Machado et al [35] Portugal Cervical mHealth Mixed (education and reminder) 1220 Women (aged 25-49 years) eligible for screening and registered at primary health care units that perform systematic written letter invitations for screening Automated or customized text messages and phone calls, followed by text message reminders of the appointment (step 1), phone calls by clinical secretaries (step 2), and phone calls or face-to-face interviews by doctors (step 3)

  • Proportion adherent to cervical cancer screening at 45 (step 1), 90 (step 1+2), and 150 days after the initial invitation (step 1+2+3)
Linde et al [65] Tanzania Cervical mHealth Mixed (education and reminder) 689 Women (aged 25-60 years) who had tested positive for HPV during a patient-initiated opportunistic screening 14 months earlier 10 educative text messages (1 per month) and 5 reminders (14, 7, and 1 day before the scheduled screening appointment) over a 10-month period

  • Proportion attending the scheduled screening appointment within 30 days
Romli et al [63] Kedah, Malaysia Cervical mHealth Mixed (education and reminder) 210 Women entrepreneurs (aged 20-65 years) who received financial help from Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia and who were or had been previously married A 30-minute educational talk, a 5-minute video on Papanicolaou smear test procedures, experience sharing from a cervical cancer survivor, distribution of pamphlet on cervical cancer and Papanicolaou smear testing, and 2 text message reminders sent over a 3-month period

  • Proportion having a Papanicolaou smear test
Baker et al [30] Chicago, United States CRC mHealth Mixed (education, reminder, and navigation) 450 Adults (aged 51-75 years) with preferred language listed as English or Spanish and with a negative FOBT A mailed reminder letter and FIT kit with postage-paid envelope, automated telephone and text message reminders, and personal telephone outreach by a screening navigator after 3 months

  • Proportion completing either FOBT or colonoscopy within 6 months of the date the patient was due for annual screening
Muller et al [46] Anchorage, Alaska CRC mHealth Mixed (education and reminder) 2386 Alaska Native or American Indian adults (aged 40-75 years) with no history of CRC or colectomy enrolled with the Southcentral Foundation health care system and eligible for screening A maximum of 3 text messages over 2 months

  • Proportion screened (FIT, FOBT, flexible sigmoidoscopy, or colonoscopy)
Miller et al [45] North Carolina, United States CRC mHealth Mixed (education and decision aid) 450 English-speaking adults (aged 50-74 years) who were scheduled to see a primary care provider and were due for CRC screening mPATH-CRC, an iPad app providing screening information, help with screening decision, self-ordering a screening test, and automated electronic messages to complete the chosen test

  • CRC screening completed within 24 weeks

  • Intention to receive screening within the next 6 months
Reiter et al [48] United States Rectal mHealth Mixed (education and reminder) 150 Gay or bisexual men (aged 18-25 years) residing in the United States who had not received any HPV vaccine doses Population-targeted, individually tailored content about HPV and monthly HPV vaccination reminders sent via email and/or text message

  • Proportion completing all 3 doses of the HPV vaccine
Wong et al [53] Hong Kong CRC mHealth Mixed (education and reminder) 629 Adults (aged 40-70 years) at average risk of CRC who had a negative FIT result in their first screening round for the study Generic text message about the importance of regular CRC screening and the time and venue of FIT tube retrieval

  • Proportion successfully returning completed FIT specimen within 6 months
Mahmud et al [64] United States CRC mHealth Mixed (education and reminder) 71 Adults (aged 18-75 years) scheduled for outpatient colonoscopy within 2 months of initial contact 9 text messages sent in the week before the scheduled procedure

  • Proportion who attended their scheduled appointment

amHealth: mobile health.

bCRC: colorectal cancer.

cFOBT: fecal occult blood test.

dFIT: fecal immunochemical test.

eBSE. breast self-exam.

fHPV: human papilloma virus.