Text messaging or SMS (Short Message Service) has become a ubiquitous form of communication, particularly amongst the younger generations. However, older members of society (and technophobes in general) are often excluded from communicating in this way. In an attempt to overcome this problem, and to try and help foster social relationships among family members, we have designed and implemented ...

The collection of delinquent fines is a vast and ongoing public administration challenge. In the UK, unpaid fines amount to more than a half billion pounds. Managing noncompliant accounts and dispatching bailiffs to collect fines in person is costly. This paper reports the results of a large randomized controlled trial designed to test the effectiveness of mobile phone text messaging as an alte...

BACKGROUND Mobile phone text messaging has been shown to improve adherence to antiretroviral therapy and to improve communication between patients and health care workers. It is unclear which strategies are most appropriate for scaling up text messaging programmes. We sought to investigate acceptability and readiness for ownership (community members designing, sending and receiving text message...

"Dr. D" is a psychiatrist in private practice. She has treated a patient named "Ann," a woman with borderline personality disorder, for more than 1 year. Ann’s condition has recently worsened. After their latest session, Dr. D received a text message on her cell phone from Ann stating that the session was "useless" and that she feels worse. Unsure of how to respond and, if so, in what way, Dr D...

Mobile messaging services have gained a large share in global telecommunications. Unlike conventional services like phone calls, text messages or email, they do not feature a standardized environment enabling a federated and potentially local service architecture. We present an extensive and large-scale analysis of communication patterns for four popular mobile messaging services between 28 cou...

BACKGROUND About one third of patients prescribed blood pressure or lipid-lowering drugs for the prevention of coronary heart disease and stroke do not take their medication as prescribed. We conducted a randomized trial to evaluate text messaging as a means of improving adherence to cardiovascular disease preventive treatment. METHODS 303 patients taking blood pressure and/or lipid-lowering ...

Objective: The authors report a case of meningioma causing incomprehensible and excessive text messaging in a postpartum woman. Case Report: We report the case of expressive dystextia related to a postpartum, progesterone receptor-positive meningioma. Growth of meningiomas can accelerate during pregnancy and the postpartum period due to expression of hormone receptors, particularly progesterone...

BACKGROUND Communication technologies can play a significant role in decreasing communication inequalities and cancer disparities by promoting cancer control and enhancing population and individual health. Studies have shown that technology, such as the mobile phone short message service (SMS) or text messaging, can be an effective health communication strategy that influences individuals' heal...