Peer Review History
| Original SubmissionMarch 27, 2021 |
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PONE-D-21-10098 Two-way text message interventions and healthcare outcomes in Africa: Systematic review of randomized trials with meta-analysis PLOS ONE Dear Dr. Linde, Thank you for submitting your manuscript to PLOS ONE. After careful consideration, we feel that it has merit but does not fully meet PLOS ONE’s publication criteria as it currently stands. Therefore, we invite you to submit a revised version of the manuscript that addresses the points raised during the review process. Please submit your revised manuscript by Sep 18 2021 11:59PM. If you will need more time than this to complete your revisions, please reply to this message or contact the journal office at plosone@plos.org. When you're ready to submit your revision, log on to https://www.editorialmanager.com/pone/ and select the 'Submissions Needing Revision' folder to locate your manuscript file. Please include the following items when submitting your revised manuscript:
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Munro-Kramer, PhD, CNM, FNP-BC Academic Editor PLOS ONE Additional Editor Comments (if provided): Thank you for this comprehensive manuscript. Both reviewers have provided detailed comments that should be addressed on resubmission. Please ensure that all reference numbers and references are accurate before resubmission. Journal Requirements: When submitting your revision, we need you to address these additional requirements. 1. Please ensure that your manuscript meets PLOS ONE's style requirements, including those for file naming. The PLOS ONE style templates can be found at https://journals.plos.org/plosone/s/file?id=wjVg/PLOSOne_formatting_sample_main_body.pdf and 2. Please review your reference list to ensure that it is complete and correct. If you have cited papers that have been retracted, please include the rationale for doing so in the manuscript text, or remove these references and replace them with relevant current references. 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Please do not edit.] Reviewers' comments: Reviewer's Responses to Questions Comments to the Author 1. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions? The manuscript must describe a technically sound piece of scientific research with data that supports the conclusions. Experiments must have been conducted rigorously, with appropriate controls, replication, and sample sizes. The conclusions must be drawn appropriately based on the data presented. Reviewer #1: Partly Reviewer #2: Yes ********** 2. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously? Reviewer #1: Yes Reviewer #2: Yes ********** 3. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available? The PLOS Data policy requires authors to make all data underlying the findings described in their manuscript fully available without restriction, with rare exception (please refer to the Data Availability Statement in the manuscript PDF file). The data should be provided as part of the manuscript or its supporting information, or deposited to a public repository. For example, in addition to summary statistics, the data points behind means, medians and variance measures should be available. If there are restrictions on publicly sharing data—e.g. participant privacy or use of data from a third party—those must be specified. Reviewer #1: Yes Reviewer #2: Yes ********** 4. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English? PLOS ONE does not copyedit accepted manuscripts, so the language in submitted articles must be clear, correct, and unambiguous. Any typographical or grammatical errors should be corrected at revision, so please note any specific errors here. Reviewer #1: Yes Reviewer #2: Yes ********** 5. Review Comments to the Author Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about dual publication, research ethics, or publication ethics. (Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters) Reviewer #1: 1. Overall 1.1. I find this article to be a robust and interesting manuscript. However, there is a major methodological question of the definition of a “two-way” text messaging intervention versus a one-way intervention. Several of the interventions included in this review - that meet the eligibility criteria the authors used - I would not necessarily describe as two-way. For example, Ref 33 provides an option to participants to text in for more electronic information (delivered electronically and via automation) but this is only an option and participants may or may not use it; many of the other included studies could be similarly described. Other included studies have what could be considered a weak two-way option where a simple quiz may be occasionally used. I find this a major weakness of this manuscript and the authors need to speak to this more extensively throughout the paper. 1.2 Furthermore, I think it would be a stronger methodology to focus on two-way text messaging interventions that provide the option to speak with a health care provider, rather than the option to electronically access additional information which is common in the studies included in this review. Perhaps this could be used to describe the type of two-way text messaging intervention, and then use this variable to test for differences in effects based on automated replies versus reply from a live health care provider. 2.0 Comments on Specific Sections of the Manuscript 2.1 Introduction 2.1.1 Page 3 Line 67, please elaborate on what you mean by “various types of text message interventions.” Also you refer to “type of intervention” and use this as a comparison criteria / potential moderator throughout the paper, so please describe what is meant here and how your classification scheme was developed for this analysis. 2.1.2 Page 4 Line 75, please elaborate on “other health outcomes”; furthermore, please justify why appointment and medication adherence were the two focal outcomes when there are so many relevant and important healthcare outcomes to look at 2.1.3 The introduction would benefit from discussion of why two-way text messaging may be better than one-way. Adding theory and evidence behind this hypothesis would strengthen the introduction, which is very short. 2.2 Methods 2.2.1 Page 4 Eligibility Criteria, was any outcome eligible for inclusion as long as it met your other eligibility criteria? Please clarify and explain this better and discuss this in your Introduction 2.2.2 Eligibility Criteria, Please describe how (and with what search terms) two-way text message interventions were included in your search strategy; often you cannot tell whether an SMS intervention is 1 or 2 way unless a careful review of the intervention/report is undertaken. This should also be mentioned as a limitation of your review, in that it’s likely 2-way interventions were missed and others might describe two-way interventions differently than the authors did for this manuscript. 2.2.3 Page 5 Line 122, were all trials assessed for bias by two people - so 100% double coding for risk of bias? This is not clear from the text. 2.3 Results 2.3.1 Page 12 Descriptive Analyses, i think this paragraph would benefit from a revised subtitle and explanation of what is being presented in this section. Initially it seemed like it would be trials not included in other analyses, but this is not the case. Please clarify and revise. 2.4 Discussion 2.4.1 Page 17 Line 351, I do not think that it is accurate to state that people who are deemed “illiterate” in some contexts would not benefit from text messages and interventions; we have found that people can be literate in some information contexts while “illiterate” in others - and that even people who are deemed “illiterate” in classic reading/writing literacy can have a high capability of understanding text messages. 2.4.2 Page 20 Line 410-411, I would suggest including a reference to the mERA checklist (BMJ 2016;352:i1174 http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.i1174) - this checklist contributes to standardization in reporting/comparisons between interventions, and ensuring that essential aspects of mHealth interventions are attended to. 2.5 Overall more description and discussion of two-way text messaging is needed throughout the paper. Reviewer #2: This is a timely review of an important tool in the mobile health toolbox: two-way texting interventions for improved health outcomes. The paper is well written and well organized, as is expected from this highly qualified author group. It is also critical that these reviews, although not novel, are completed routinely as the evidence is growing and the technology changing rapidly. However, the included studies are few and the outcomes limited, reducing the potential impact of this review on public health practice. There are many reviews of texting interventions – as the authors note and cite – including many focused on HIV, as is the majority of this one. Could more health topics be included (malnutrition, diabetes, vaccinations, etc)? Could the study assessment criteria extend beyond a more simple assessment of high or low bias to a more comprehensive and nuanced review of the study rigor? Furthermore, the call for more better evidence has been made for over a decade. The authors know and could give more specific suggestions on what is needed. For example, the authors could strengthen the paper by making more detailed suggestions for what could create an improved evidence base, potentially including focal areas in the WHO guide, “Monitoring and evaluating digital health interventions: A practical guide to conducting research and assessment” (https://www.who.int/reproductivehealth/publications/mhealth/digital-health-interventions/en/ ). Whether referring to that guide or other evaluation criteria, the authors could make a larger contribution to the digital health community if the review would focus more on the weaknesses of the included studies (or the excluded studies), moving past a more generic call for “more high quality trials.” That would exponentially increase the impact of this paper. Other comments: 1. The words used for searching seem too exclusive. Other than, “appointment attendance” and “medicine adherence”, what other words were used? Strings like “visit attendance,” “treatment adherence,” and “linkage to care” might have also brought in trials. Were these key words also considered? Texting, cell phones or digital health may have brought up other studies. 2. Lines 49-51 and 51-53: break into 2 sentences for clarity. 3. Many sentences in the intro would benefit from a grammatical review. 4. Line 85: males and females separate or also together? 5. Line 150: what about for non dichotomous outcomes, i.e. % of on-time visits/year, for example? 6. 154: what is I2 ? What is it or spell out. 7. Line 185: This does not make sense. How can infants be the target group for a mHealth innovation? Does this mean the guardian or parent of an infant? 8. Line 213: This specific RCT was testing whether post-operative follow-up by two-way text messages was as safe as in-person visits for follow-up to identify and report adverse events. The intent was to use two-way messaging as a form of telehealth – comparing adverse events between the intervention arm as compared to standard care – trying to reduce workload of nurses. Two-way texting actually identified /more/ adverse events (a positive for quality care) as the men were provided with reassurance on wound care and encouraged to return to care if they had a problem. Two-way texting was not non-inferior (the texting actually improved reporting), and the lack of significant difference between the arms is a positive outcome for potential workload reduction and quality care. The original sentence starting on line 213, “Another trial investigated the effect of two-way text message intervention on circumcision harms in Zimbabwe and did not find any differences compared with standard care (risk difference (RD): 1.04% (p=0.32) [20],” is incorrect and misleading. Texting was not related to harms but on identifying potential harms. It should be replaced with something like, “Another trial investigated the effect of two-way text messages (intervention) as compared to routine in-person reviews (standard care) for post-operative follow-up among male circumcision patients in Zimbabwe and did not find any significant difference in adverse events between arms (risk difference (RD): 1.04% (p=0.32) [20]. However, although this study outcome [20] was not among those studies included in the primary outcomes of the overall meta-analysis, misunderstanding these study outcomes does give pause as to the veracity of the other findings reported in the paper. I am not going to review the content of each included paper, but the authors should be confident that the content of the meta-analysis and the study summaries are correct. 9. Lines 225-227, what is the outcome of the study? The sentence tells only what the study investigated. 10. Line 289: so all HIV studies were compared to the one hypertension study? What would a significant finding tell the reader anyway if almost all trials were for HIV? 11. Line 298. What is meant by the effect of the call back versus text back option mean? Is this comparing whether the clients sent back an SMS or called back to confirm attendance? To confirm attendance intent? Please clarify. 12. Line 300: please clarify again what is meant by call back vs. SMS. This is critical to readers’ understanding of what these results may mean for future interventions. Does this mean giving clients a chance to call back was more effective for medicine adherence? 13. Lines 334-338 lack clarity, “compared to standard care, two-way text messages slightly improved diabetes control [32], reproductive health knowledge [31, 39] post-partum contraceptive use [30], early breastfeeding [23] though not adverse events [22], unintended pregnancy [33] or HIV medicine adherence [42]. I /think/ that citation [22] here should be [20]. First, this makes me request that you review all your citations within the paper. Second, if [22] is meant to be [20], please rephrase to, ….”early breastfeeding [23] and adverse event ascertainment [20] although not unintended pregnancy [33] or HIV medicine adherence [42].” However, isn’t this metareview about HIV medicine adherence? Why wasn’t [42] included above? 14. Line 359: the restricted outcomes to only 2 (appointment attendance or medicine adherence) is also a large limitation. What other outcomes are the intended impact of two-way texting interventions? Testing uptake? Linkage to care? Self-monitoring? Smoking or alcohol harms reduction? Intimate partner violence? Improved nutrition or malnutrition identification? 15. Line 365: text back options are not well explained. What does this mean? I thought that the previous lines (298-302) noted the impact of the call back? This is unclear, muddling a potential impact of this type of review on actual intervention development. 16. Line 402: Spell out WHO the first time ********** 6. PLOS authors have the option to publish the peer review history of their article (what does this mean?). If published, this will include your full peer review and any attached files. If you choose “no”, your identity will remain anonymous but your review may still be made public. Do you want your identity to be public for this peer review? For information about this choice, including consent withdrawal, please see our Privacy Policy. Reviewer #1: No Reviewer #2: No [NOTE: If reviewer comments were submitted as an attachment file, they will be attached to this email and accessible via the submission site. Please log into your account, locate the manuscript record, and check for the action link "View Attachments". 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Two-way text message interventions and healthcare outcome in Africa: Systematic review of randomized trials with meta-analyses on appointment attendance and medicine adherence PONE-D-21-10098R1 Dear Dr. Linde, We’re pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been judged scientifically suitable for publication and will be formally accepted for publication once it meets all outstanding technical requirements. Within one week, you’ll receive an e-mail detailing the required amendments. When these have been addressed, you’ll receive a formal acceptance letter and your manuscript will be scheduled for publication. An invoice for payment will follow shortly after the formal acceptance. To ensure an efficient process, please log into Editorial Manager at http://www.editorialmanager.com/pone/, click the 'Update My Information' link at the top of the page, and double check that your user information is up-to-date. If you have any billing related questions, please contact our Author Billing department directly at authorbilling@plos.org. If your institution or institutions have a press office, please notify them about your upcoming paper to help maximize its impact. If they’ll be preparing press materials, please inform our press team as soon as possible -- no later than 48 hours after receiving the formal acceptance. Your manuscript will remain under strict press embargo until 2 pm Eastern Time on the date of publication. For more information, please contact onepress@plos.org. Kind regards, Michelle L. Munro-Kramer, PhD, CNM, FNP-BC Academic Editor PLOS ONE Additional Editor Comments (optional): Thank you for addressing all previous comments. Congratulations on the acceptance of this manuscript. Reviewers' comments: Reviewer's Responses to Questions Comments to the Author 1. If the authors have adequately addressed your comments raised in a previous round of review and you feel that this manuscript is now acceptable for publication, you may indicate that here to bypass the “Comments to the Author” section, enter your conflict of interest statement in the “Confidential to Editor” section, and submit your "Accept" recommendation. Reviewer #2: All comments have been addressed ********** 2. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions? The manuscript must describe a technically sound piece of scientific research with data that supports the conclusions. Experiments must have been conducted rigorously, with appropriate controls, replication, and sample sizes. The conclusions must be drawn appropriately based on the data presented. Reviewer #2: Yes ********** 3. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously? Reviewer #2: Yes ********** 4. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available? The PLOS Data policy requires authors to make all data underlying the findings described in their manuscript fully available without restriction, with rare exception (please refer to the Data Availability Statement in the manuscript PDF file). The data should be provided as part of the manuscript or its supporting information, or deposited to a public repository. For example, in addition to summary statistics, the data points behind means, medians and variance measures should be available. If there are restrictions on publicly sharing data—e.g. participant privacy or use of data from a third party—those must be specified. Reviewer #2: Yes ********** 5. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English? PLOS ONE does not copyedit accepted manuscripts, so the language in submitted articles must be clear, correct, and unambiguous. Any typographical or grammatical errors should be corrected at revision, so please note any specific errors here. Reviewer #2: Yes ********** 6. Review Comments to the Author Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about dual publication, research ethics, or publication ethics. (Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters) Reviewer #2: The paper has been well revised. I do not have any additional comments to the authors. Now, meeting character counts. ********** 7. PLOS authors have the option to publish the peer review history of their article (what does this mean?). If published, this will include your full peer review and any attached files. If you choose “no”, your identity will remain anonymous but your review may still be made public. Do you want your identity to be public for this peer review? For information about this choice, including consent withdrawal, please see our Privacy Policy. Reviewer #2: No |
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