Poster The Joint Annual Meeting of the Stroke Society of Australasia (SSA) and Smartstrokes 2023

Use of SMS in Obtaining Patient-Reported Outcomes in the Australian Stroke Clinical Registry (#196)

Julie Morrison 1 , Shaun Hancock 1 , Helen Carter 1 , Marcus Lester 1 , Karen Barclay Moss 1 , Joosup Kim 1 2 , Monique Kilkenny 1 2 , Helen Dewey 3 , Rohan Grimley 4 5 , Sandy Middleton 6 , Natasha A Lannin 7 8 , Dominique A Cadilhac 1 2
  1. Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health , Stroke Theme, Heidelberg, Victoria, Australia
  2. Stroke and Ageing Research, School of Clinical Sciences , Monash University , Clayton, Victoria, Australia
  3. Eastern Health, Box Hill, Victoria, Australia
  4. Sunshine Coast Clinical School, Griffith University, Birtinya, Queensland, Australia
  5. Queensland State-Wide Stroke Clinical Network, Queensland Health, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
  6. Nursing Research Institute, St Vincent’s Health Australia (Sydney) and Australian Catholic University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
  7. Department of Neuroscience, Monash University , Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
  8. Alfred Health , Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Background: Patient-reported outcomes are integral to understanding the burden of stroke. The Australian Stroke Clinical Registry (AuSCR) collects patient outcomes 90-180 days after stroke/TIA, however current data collection methods via mail and telephone are resource intensive.

Aims: To determine whether the added procedure of an SMS sent 4-weeks after the first mailout with a link to complete the survey electronically is feasible and efficient for collecting health outcome data.

Methods: Eligible patients from 27 hospitals registered in the AuSCR were randomised 1:1 to the standard follow-up process (two paper-based surveys by mail 6 weeks apart then contact by phone if no response) or to the new SMS protocol. Descriptive statistics were used to compare within and between group differences (chi-squared or Wilcoxon rank-sum tests).

Results: Overall 1,008 registrants were randomised and had similar profiles (58% male, median age 72 years). Eight were excluded post-randomisation and removed at the hospitals’ request because the final diagnosis was not stroke/TIA. In the SMS group, 18% completed the survey via the SMS link. Overall follow-up completion was 11% greater in the SMS group compared to the standard group. Those who responded in the SMS group had a median response time that was 14 days shorter than the control group (p<0.05). The median age of SMS group participants that completed the survey via the SMS link was younger that those who completed by other methods (69 vs 74 years, p=0.03). Missing data were similar between groups.

Conclusion: Collecting patient-reported outcomes via an electronic survey sent by SMS was feasible; benefits included increased response rates and shorter time to completion. The younger median age of responders via electronic methods may indicate a preference over current methods. The use of SMS has now been adopted by the AuSCR as part of the follow-up protocol.