Automated telephone messaging systems have dramatically expanded communicat
ion about health service appointments, but few studies have directly invest
igated these messages. The present study investigated whether message repet
ition (1, 2, or 3 presentations) and listener age (mean age = 71 or 19 year
s) improved memory for automated appointment messages. Repetition improved
older and younger adult memory for appointment information. Moreover, 2 pre
sentations reduced age differences in accuracy of answering questions about
the messages. This was not the case for free recall, suggesting that older
adults differentially benefited from repetition only when provided with ad
ditional retrieval support. These findings show that older as well as young
er adults benefit from at least 1 repetition of appointment messages. Actua
l or potential applications of this research include the use of repetition
to improve comprehension of automated telephone messages.