Daily Short Message Service Reminders Increase Treatment Compliance and Efficacy in Outpatients With Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders: a Randomized Controlled Trial

The irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and other functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs) are common and pose significant burdens to patients. Although regular medications have substantial benefits for disease remission, many patients do not follow the recommendations of standard medication regimens given by physicians at the time of the visit, so how to improve patient compliance becomes even more important. Many factors can affect drug compliance. Forgetting seems to be one of the important reasons for poor compliance. In order to solve this problem, many studies such as drug charts/calendars, mini kits, etc. have been conducted in previous studies. At present, with the popularization of mobile phones, SMS-based interventions are gradually being applied to various medical environments. Compared with the phone, SMS consumes less time and can be easily integrated into the patient's daily life. Therefore, short messages may be more suitable for follow-up of patients outside hospital.