Introduction: The use of apps has increased in recent years especially in healthcare. Due to apps being unregulated the quality and accuracy of the information provided can be variable. Aim: To assess the availability of patient focused oral hygiene apps and profile the characteristics of the most popular apps on the Apple App store and Google Play (Android). Method: Oral hygiene related search terms were used to identify apps on these platforms. Detailed information for the 20 most popular apps for each search term was recorded. Results: In total 1,075 apps were identified with fewer apps available on the Apple App store than Google Play (Android). The 20 most popular apps for each search term focused on providing of oral hygiene information, were free of charge and were developed after 2015. No apps contained information regarding whether they were approved by official organisations and if effectiveness or acceptability testing had been conducted. App ratings were variable and unrelated to the quality and accuracy of the information. Conclusion: Due to a lack of regulation, there is a risk that patients may access inaccurate information via apps. Therefore, evaluation, validation, and quality assessment of healthcare apps is needed prior to recommending these to patients. In brief: To give an overview of the availability of patient focused oral hygiene apps To profile the most popular patient focused oral hygiene apps To highlight the short comings of the information provided within apps and the lack of regulation of this information
BackgroundThe aim of the study was to develop a high-quality valid patient information website with regard to hypodontia and its management, and to test its effectiveness in delivering this information.MethodsA patient-based hypodontia website was created and placed on the Trust’s website. It was then validated using five website assessment tools: Flesch reading ease score, LIDA, DISCERN, Journal of American Medical Association and Health on the Net seal. A cross-sectional prospective design was adopted using a 15-item questionnaire to assess the effectiveness of the newly created hypodontia website in helping participants understand their management. New patients attending their first hypodontia clinic consultation appointment were invited to complete the questionnaire both before and after visiting the website.ResultsThe newly created hypodontia website scored well with the website validation tools in comparison with previously assessed hypodontia websites. Forty participants (25 female) took part in the questionnaire study, with a mean age of 15.3 (SD 6.1) years. After visiting the website, 85% of participants felt the website was helpful in understanding hypodontia, with an observed improvement in all domains of the questionnaire, reaching statistical significance (p<0.05–0.001) in 10 of the 15 items.ConclusionThis study found that patients felt that a hypodontia website was effective in improving their perceived knowledge of hypodontia.
Introduction: Retention is a crucial part of orthodontic treatment; however, patients often do not wear their retainers as advised. The British Orthodontic Society developed the ‘Hold that Smile’ campaign in 2017, to improve patient knowledge about retention. Information is provided in two formats: a cartoon and a conventional film. Objective: To assess whether patients find the ‘Hold that Smile’ videos useful and whether they improved patients’ intended retainer wear. The gold standard was that 90% of patients should intend to wear their retainers in the long term after watching the videos. Design: National multicentre audit. Setting: Nine units in the UK. Methods: Patients aged ⩾ 10 years, in fixed appliances or retention, watched the retainer videos and then completed a questionnaire that was designed specifically for this audit. Each unit collected data for approximately 30 patients. Results: Data were collected for 278 patients in total. The average age was 17.9 years; 64.4% of patients were female and 35.6% were male. Most patients (86.3%) watched both videos and, of these, 44.1% preferred the film, 31.3% preferred the cartoon and 24.6% had no preference. The majority of patients (81.3%) felt that the film provided them with new information, compared with a lower percentage (48.5%) for the cartoon. More patients said they would recommend the film (76.3%) compared with the cartoon (63.3%). Before watching the videos, 77.0% of patients felt they knew about long-term retainer wear and 74.3% of those intended to wear their retainers in the long term. After watching the videos, 96.4% of all patients thought they would now wear their retainers long term. Conclusion: After watching the videos, there was a notable increase in the number of patients planning to wear their retainers long term and the gold standard was met. Therefore, these videos may be beneficial in improving understanding and compliance with retention.
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