Digital reminder systems for improving adherence to anti-rabies vaccination among animal bite victims: A systematic review
In brief
Digital reminders raised rabies vaccine completion from 53% to 70% in one trial
All three studies found better adherence with digital reminders than with routine care. In one trial, phone reminders raised vaccination completion from 53% to 70%; an SMS study reported 93% completion versus 78% with routine care. Different study designs and vaccination schedules, plus only three studies overall, leave the evidence uncertain and larger trials are needed to test how well reminders work at scale.
- Journal
- The Indian journal of medical research (Q2)
- Published
- 1 November 2026
- Study design
- Systematic review / meta-analysis of RCTs
- Evidence level
- Level 1, High (CEBM 1a)
- Authors
- Debasish Pandit, Virendra Wankhede, Kalyani Prashant Deshmukh, Geeta Pardeshi, Aravind P Gandhi
- PMID
- 42981332
- DOI
- 10.25259/IJMR_399_2026
Why clinicians should know about it
- Picked for Health Informatics (top studies of the week, 8 November 2026): Reviews digital reminders and their effect on vaccination adherence
Abstract
Background and objectives Digital reminder systems may improve adherence to scheduled vaccination visits. This systematic review aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of digital reminder interventions in improving adherence to and completion of anti-rabies vaccination among animal bite patients. Methods A systematic search of PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library was conducted on September 28, 2025 following a registered PROSPERO protocol (CRD420251148817). Two reviewers independently screened studies using NESTED Knowledge, extracted data, and assessed study quality using the Cochrane RoB-2 tool and the JBI critical appraisal checklist. Results Of 733 records identified, 436 remained after duplicate record removal and were screened by the title and abstract. Twelve studies underwent full-text assessment, and three that met the inclusion criteria were conducted in Tanzania, Kenya, and India. Two quasi-experimental studies evaluated SMS reminder systems, and one randomised controlled trial evaluated telephonic reminders. All studies reported improved adherence to scheduled anti-rabies vaccination compared with routine care. Vaccination completion was 70% vs 53% in the telephonic reminder trial and 93% vs 78% in the SMS reminder study. In the Tanzanian study adherence improved across four doses (62%, 50%, 29%, 13%) with SMS reminders compared with controls (48%, 41%, 22%, 7%). Differences in study design, vaccination regimens, and intervention modalities limited direct comparison across studies. Interpretation and conclusions Digital reminder interventions may improve adherence to anti-rabies vaccination schedules, but available evidence is limited and heterogeneous, resulting in low certainty of evidence. Larger randomised trials are required to determine the effectiveness and scalability of digital reminder systems.
Abstract as published, via PubMed.
For healthcare professionals. The summary is generated by AI from the published abstract, and the evidence level is assigned automatically from the study design on the Oxford CEBM hierarchy. Neither is medical advice. Read the full paper before changing practice.