[ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 4-Sep-2003
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Contact: Emma Dickinson
edickinson@bmj.com
44-207-383-6529
BMJ-British Medical Journal

Text messages could lead to health inequalities

Letters: reminding patients by text message BMJ Volume 327, p 564

Reminding patients of appointments with their doctor by text messages is generally a good idea, but may increase health inequalities, according to a letter in this week's BMJ.

Sending text reminders is clearly a good initiative, but one concern is that it may increase health inequalities as it applies only to people who can afford to own mobile phones, argues Daragh Fahey, a public health doctor at Camden Primary Care Trust, London.

This means that people in higher socioeconomic groups are less likely to miss appointments and thus are more likely to receive better health care, he concludes.

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