Short message service as a tool for mass follow-up of patients requesting a poison centre: a retrospective comparative study in France

Abstract

Introduction

The short message service is an alternative to telephone follow-up of exposure cases reported to poison centres. The aim of this study was to compare the proportion of exposure cases successfully followed up and the respective cost of telephone and short message service follow-up between two poison centres, one using both methods of follow-up (Paris centre) and the other using telephone follow-up only (Nancy centre).

Methods

In 2021, we included cases eligible for short message service follow-up at both centres. Eligibility criteria were calls from the public reporting non-toxic or minor toxic exposure not requiring medical consultation. We collected the follow-up type (telephone/short message service) and outcome (success/failure). The cost of each type of follow-up was estimated.

Results

In 2021, 16,867 and 11,107 exposure cases were eligible for short message service follow-up at the Paris and Nancy centres, respectively. The Paris centre followed up 86.2 per cent of cases by short message service, and the remainder by telephone, while the Nancy centre followed up all cases by telephone. The Paris centre had a greater follow-up rate compared to the Nancy centre (93.0 per cent versus 43.6 per cent; P < 0.0001). Overall, the success rates were similar between the two centres (P = 0.06), with short message service and telephone follow-up showing comparable success rates (88.1 per cent versus 88.7 per cent; P = 0.25). On average, telephone follow-up took almost twice as long (1.51 min versus 0.85 min) and cost 1.3 times more (0.59 euros versus 0.45 euros) than short message service follow-up.

Discussion

Short message service follow-up allows more patients to be successfully followed up at a lower cost compared to telephone-only follow-up, albeit with potential differences in information quality.

Conclusions

Short message service follow-up is a promising tool for poison centres to follow up with patients. Further studies are needed to assess the quality of the data collected and caller satisfaction.

Keywords:

• Poison centres
• follow-up studies
• telephone
• text messaging
• cost-effectiveness analysis

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Prior publication

Some of the results of this article were presented at the EAPCCT congress in Mallorca in 2023; an abstract was published in Clinical Toxicology (abstract n°4, 43rd International Congress of the European Association of Poisons Centres and Clinical Toxicologists (EAPCCT), 23–26 May 2023, Palma de Mallorca, Spain. Clin Toxicol (Phila). 2023;61:1–129)