Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Research Protocols
Date Submitted: Jan 29, 2020
Date Accepted: Sep 4, 2020
Assessing the effectiveness and acceptability of a personalised mobile phone App in improving adherence to oral hygiene advice in orthodontic patients: protocol for a feasibility study and a Randomised Controlled Trial
ABSTRACT
Background:
Orthodontic treatment is a common healthcare intervention, treatment duration can be lengthy (2-3 years on average) and adherence to treatment advice is therefore essential for successful outcomes. It has been reported that up to 43% of patients fail to complete treatment and there are currently no useful predictors of non-completion. Given that the NHS England annual spend on primary care orthodontic treatment is in excess of £200 million, non-completion of treatment represents a significant inefficient use of public resources. Improving adherence to treatment is therefore essential. This necessitates behaviour change and interventions that improve adherence and are designed to elicit behavioural change must address an individual’s capability, opportunity and motivation. Mobile phones are potentially an invaluable tool in this regard, they are readily available and can utilised in a number of ways to address an individual’s capability, opportunity and motivation.
Objective:
This study will assess the effectiveness and acceptability of a personalised mobile phone App in improving adherence to orthodontic treatment advice by way of a randomised controlled trial.
Methods:
This study will be conducted in two phases at the Eastman Dental Hospital, UCLH Foundation Trust. Phase 1: Feasibility testing of the My Braces App. Participants will be asked to complete the user Mobile App Rating Scale (uMARS). The app will be amended following analysis of the responses if appropriate. Phase 2: A randomised controlled trial to test the effectiveness and acceptability of the My Braces App.
Results:
This study was approved by London Bloomsbury Research Ethics Committee on 05.11.2019 (reference 19/LO/1555). No patients have been recruited to date. The anticipated start date for recruitment to phase 1 is October 2020.
Conclusions:
Given the availability, affordability and versatility of mobile phones, it is proposed that they will aid in improving adherence to treatment advice and hence improve treatment completion rates. If effective, the applicability of this methodology to developing behaviour change/modification interventions and improving adherence to treatment across healthcare provides an exciting opportunity. Clinical Trial: The randomised controlled trial has been registered on ClinicalTrials.gov (ID: NCT04184739), December 2019: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04184739?id=NCT04184739&draw=2&rank=1
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