Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Pediatrics and Parenting
Date Submitted: Feb 25, 2021
Date Accepted: Dec 17, 2021
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
App-solutley fabulous for children’s oral health - or not? A systematic review of Apps to promote oral care.
ABSTRACT
Background:
Increasingly Apps are being used to promote oral care.
Objective:
This study aimed to systematically review and assess Apps that promote oral care/hygiene for children.
Methods:
A broad search strategy (13 keywords) was developed to identify Apps from Apple’s App Store and Google Play Store. After reviewing the App’s ‘title and summary/abstract’, ‘potentially effective’ Apps were downloaded for viewing.
Results:
More than 3,000 Apps were identified and 52 ‘effective’ Apps informed the review. The quality of the Apps according to HONcode (Health on the Net Foundation Code of Conduct) criteria was generally low. Mean HONcode scores was 1.8 / 8.0. A quarter of the Apps had a HONcode score of zero (25.9%, 14). The Scientific Basis of Oral Self-Care of the Apps was evaluated based on a 6-point scale (SBOSC). Mean SBOSC score was 1.5 / 6.0; 18.5% (10) of the Apps had a score of zero. There was a significant and positive correlation between HONcode and SBOSC scores (r 0.37, p<0.01). More
Conclusions:
There are many Apps to promote oral self-care among children. The quality and scientific basis of these Apps are low. More new apps are of higher quality in terms of scientific basis. There is an urgent need to ensure quality and scientific-based Apps be available. The effectiveness of Apps in terms of oral care and clinical outcomes among children needs to be evaluated.
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