Ask to take part

Contact the study team using the details below to take part. If there are no contact details below please ask your doctor in the first instance.

Contact Information:

Dr Moscho Michalopoulou
remindstudy@phc.ox.ac.uk


Study Location:

Find another location


Questions to ask
Skip to Main Content

Help us improve the Be Part of Research website. Sign up to take part in online research.

English | Cymraeg
Be Part of Research - Trial Details - The effect of text reminders on the uptake of type 2 diabetes screening test after gestational diabetes
Back

The effect of text reminders on the uptake of type 2 diabetes screening test after gestational diabetes

Not Recruiting

Open to: Female

Age: Adult

Leicester Newcastle upon Tyne Southampton Exeter Wolverhampton Leeds Norwich London London Bristol Manchester Guildford

Medical Conditions

Type 2 diabetes

This information is provided directly by researchers, and we recognise that it isn't always easy to understand. We are working with researchers to improve the accessibility of this information. In some summaries, you may come across links to external websites. These websites will have more information to help you better understand the study.


Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is defined as high blood glucose levels first identified during pregnancy, in the absence of pre-pregnancy diabetes. GDM causes problems during pregnancy and delivery. But research also shows that, although GDM usually resolves after giving birth, it can cause health problems for women later in life too. Women who get GDM are at increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes (T2DM) compared to women who do not get GDM. It is therefore recommended that all women who get GDM have an annual diabetes test after giving birth. This is because catching and treating T2DM early can help reduce the risk of diabetes-related complications later in life. However, most women with GDM do not book or attend the recommended annual diabetes test after birth. We aim to test if sending women with previous GDM an informational SMS text message to encourage them to book an annual diabetes test, can increase the number of women who attend this test after GDM.

Start dates may differ between countries and research sites. The research team are responsible for keeping the information up-to-date.  

The recruitment start and end dates are as follows:

02 Mar 2026 04 Aug 2026

All participating practices will be asked to run two electronic searches of their patient records when they are enrolled into the trial. Search 1 will identify eligible patients to be targeted as part of the trial (patients with a recorded history of GDM, with no recorded history of any other diabetes, at least 13 months postpartum, with no recorded HbA1c result within the previous 10 months). Search 2 will identify women with a recorded history of GDM, with no recorded history
of any other diabetes, at least 13 months postpartum, who had a recorded HbA1c result within the previous 12 months. Eligible practices will then be randomly assigned to either the intervention or control group in a 1:1 ratio using a computer-generated allocated sequence. Practices randomised to the intervention group will be asked to send targeted patients an informational SMS aimed to encourage patients to book an annual diabetes test. The practices will send the same SMS again after two weeks as a reminder. Practices allocated to the control group will be asked to continue current standard practice. The outcome of interest in this study is the uptake of annual diabetes screening test (HbA1c) in women with a history of GDM. We will obtain follow-up outcome data by asking all practices to conduct a follow-up search of their records (Search 3), 3 months after enrolment for the control practices, and 3 months after the second SMS reminder was sent for intervention practices, to identify patients targeted at baseline and who have an HbA1c test result.


GP practices:
1. Based in England
2. Established for at least a year
3. With at least 5000 registered patients
4. Using the emis web clinical information system
5. Not using any type of reminder to women with a history of GDM to attend annual diabetes screening postpartum
6. Not taking part in any other research study or service evaluation exploring the use of reminders to increase the uptake of annual diabetes screening in women with a history of GDM
7. Not receiving palliative care
8. With no other reason that the GP practice judges they are not appropriate to be targeted

You can take part if:



You may not be able to take part if:


Practices may not enter the study if any of the following apply:1. Currently using any type of reminder to women with previous GDM to attend annual diabetes screening postpartum2. Taking part in any other research study or service evaluation exploring the use of reminders to increase the uptake of annual diabetes screening in women with previous GDM


Below are the locations for where you can take part in the trial. Please note that not all sites may be open.

  • East Midlands RRDN
    Leicester Royal Infirmary Infirmary Square
    Leicester
    LE1 5WW
  • North East and North Cumbria RRDN
    Freeman Hospital Freeman Road High Heaton
    Newcastle upon Tyne
    NE7 7DN
  • South Central RRDN
    Southampton General Hospital Tremona Road
    Southampton
    SO16 6YD
  • South West Peninsula RRDN
    Royal Devon University NHS FT Barrack Road
    Exeter
    EX2 5DW
  • West Midlands RRDN
    New Cross Hospital Wolverhampton Road Heath Town
    Wolverhampton
    WV10 0QP
  • Yorkshire and Humber RRDN
    St. James's University Hospital Beckett Street
    Leeds
    LS9 7TF
  • East of England RRDN
    Colney Lane Colney
    Norwich
    NR4 7UY
  • North London RRDN
    The Royal London Hospital 80 Newark Street
    London
    E1 2ES
  • South London RRDN
    St Thomas' Hospital Westminster Bridge Road
    London
    SE1 7EH
  • South West Central RRDN
    Trust Headquarters Marlborough Street
    Bristol
    BS1 3NU
  • North West RRDN
    Cobbett House Oxford Road
    Manchester
    M13 9WL
  • South East RRDN
    Egerton Road
    Guildford
    GU2 7XX

We do not anticipate risks or burdens for participating GP practices. The search strategies will be generated by the central research team. The participating practices will be supplied with the searches in a format compliant with their patient record management software and the research team will provide training to practice staff on how to run the searches and supply outputs to the research team in a secure and confidential manner. In addition, for intervention practices, the SMS will be sent through the usual practice SMS system or a mail service (e.g. Docmail), as well as using the usual practice format, such as using a letterhead. GP practices send SMS text messages regularly for other purposes and conditions, therefore, incorporating our intervention into the practice system and/or providing instructions on how to use a mail service (e.g. Docmail) is expected to be straightforward.
We also do not anticipate risks or burdens for targeted patients. The SMS intervention poses no more than minimal risk to patient health, safety, or care. Specifically, the intervention is receiving a short SMS which poses minimal risk, no more than the risk encountered in everyday life. In addition, if patients targeted by the SMS intervention choose to ignore the SMS, there is the risk of not having the test. However, the GP practices who will be recruited for this trial are the ones who already do not have systems in place to follow-up women who need to have an annual diabetes test after GDM, since the eligible practices are the ones who do not send any notices/reminders of any form to women after GDM to book the annual diabetes test. This means that the everyday practice in the participating practices is currently no invitation to the annual follow-up diabetes blood test at all. This is riskier than our SMS intervention, because the SMS intervention aims to address exactly this issue of no follow-up being currently implemented in everyday practice. If patients do not choose to act on the SMS reminder, it is their choice, like with every other GP appointment. Furthermore, all patient data collected will be anonymised and are data already collected as part of routine care, posing no more than minimal risk.
Practices will not gain any direct benefit from participating in this trial. They will be financially compensated for undertaking activities that are not currently part of their standard work.

Dr Moscho Michalopoulou
remindstudy@phc.ox.ac.uk



The study is sponsored by University of Oxford and funded by NIHR School for Primary Care Research; National Institute for Health and Care Research Applied Research Collaboration Oxford and Thames Valley.




We'd like your feedback

Your feedback is important to us. It will help us improve the quality of the study information on this site. Please answer both questions.


Is this study information helpful?

What will you do next?
Read full details for Trial ID: ISRCTN34249419

Or CPMS: 64986

Last updated 19 March 2026

This page is to help you find out about a research study and if you may be able to take part

You can print or share the study information with your GP/healthcare provider or contact the research team directly.   

Back to the top