91328
document
Randomized controlled study of customized preventive medicine reminder letters in a community practice . OBJECTIVE To test the effectiveness of customized , family-oriented reminder letters in activating patients to seek appropriate preventive services . DESIGN Randomized clinical trial . One group received computer-generated , customized letters explaining recommended preventive procedures for each family member . A second group received a form letter listing recommendations for all preventive procedures for all age and sex groups . A third group ( control group ) received no letters . SETTING A private medical centre , without university affiliation , in rural Quebec . PARTICIPANTS From 8770 patients who met study criteria , 719 families were randomly selected . Data were available for 1971 of 1998 patients in these families . MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES The Family Received Index is the proportion of all procedures for which a family was overdue that they received . The Family End-of-study Up-to-date Index is the proportion of procedures for which the family was eligible and for which they were up-to-date at the end of the study . RESULTS The Family Received Index for families mailed customized letters was more than double the index for patients not mailed letters ( Kruskal-Wallis P = .0139 ) . Comparison of the Family End-of-study Up-to-date indices also demonstrated that families of patients sent customized letters were more likely to be up-to-date than families not sent letters ( Kruskal-Wallis P = .0054 ) . No statistically significant difference appeared between the number of preventive measures received by the control group and the form-letter group . CONCLUSIONS This study demonstrates a clinically small but statistically significant value to customizing reminder letters .
91329
Intervention_Educational
One group received computer-generated , customized letters explaining recommended preventive procedures for each family member .
91330
Intervention_Other
A second group received a form letter listing recommendations for all preventive procedures for all age and sex groups
91331
Intervention_Control
A third group ( control group ) received no letters .
91332
Intervention_Educational
customized letters
91333
Intervention_Educational
customized letters
91334
Intervention_Control
control
91335
Intervention_Other
form-letter
91336
Intervention_Educational
customizing reminder letters .
91337
Outcome_Other
effectiveness
91338
Outcome_Physical
The Family Received Index
91339
Outcome_Physical
Family End-of-study Up-to-date Index
91340
Outcome_Physical
Family Received Index
91341
Outcome_Physical
Family End-of-study Up-to-date indices
91342
Participant_Sample-size
8770
91343
Participant_Sample-size
719