Evaluating the Effectiveness of Letter and Telephone Reminders in Promoting the Use of Specific Health Guidance in an At-Risk Population for Metabolic Syndrome in Japan: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Hiroshi Murayama (), Setaro Shimada, Kosuke Morito, Haruna Maeda and Yuta Takahashi
Additional contact information
Hiroshi Murayama: Research Team for Social Participation and Community Health, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology, Tokyo 173-0015, Japan
Setaro Shimada: Health and Welfare Bureau, Yokohama 231-0005, Japan
Kosuke Morito: Health and Welfare Bureau, Yokohama 231-0005, Japan
Haruna Maeda: Health and Welfare Bureau, Yokohama 231-0005, Japan
Yuta Takahashi: Health and Welfare Bureau, Yokohama 231-0005, Japan

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 5, 1-8

Abstract: Japan has introduced a nationwide lifestyle intervention program (specific health guidance) for people aged 40–74 years. Medical insurers apply a reminder system to improve their utilization rates. This study examined the effectiveness of two methods of reminders (mailed letters and telephone calls) in a randomized controlled trial. Subscribers to National Health Insurance in Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture, who were eligible for specific health guidance in 2021, were recruited. A total of 1377 people who met the criteria of having or being at risk of developing metabolic syndrome (male: 77.9%, mean age: 63.1 ± 10.0 years) were randomly assigned to one of three groups: a “no reminder” group, a “letter reminder” group, or a “telephone reminder” group. The utilization rates of specific health guidance were not significantly different between the three groups (10.5%, 15.3%, and 13.7%, respectively). However, in the case of the telephone reminder group, a subgroup analysis showed that the utilization rate was significantly higher among participants who received the reminder than those who did not answer the calls. Although the effectiveness of a telephone reminder might be underestimated, this study suggests that neither method impacted the utilization rates of specific health guidance among the population at risk of metabolic syndrome.

Keywords: specific health guidance; reminder; randomized controlled trial; Japan (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/5/3784/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/5/3784/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:5:p:3784-:d:1075166

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().