mHealth App for Oral Hygiene and Cancer Awareness in Older Adults

Summary

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn whether a mobile app with educational videos and serious games is more effective than a video-only version of the app to improve knowledge, attitudes, and practices about oral cancer and oral hygiene in older adults.

The study also aims to evaluate the usability of the app and the impact of the intervention on performing oral self-examination.

The main questions it aims to answer are:

1. \- Does the version of the app with videos and serious games lead to greater improvement in oral cancer knowledge than the video-only version?
2. \- Are there differences in attitudes and self-examination practices between the two groups after using the app?
3. \- How frequently and consistently do participants use the app during the study period, and how much do they interact with the educational videos and serious games?
4. \- Are there differences in outcomes by sex or education level?

Participants will:

Be adults aged 60 and more receiving care at the Dental Clinic of the University of Chile

Be randomly assigned to use one of two versions of the same app:

* Group A: Access to educational videos and serious games
* Group B: Access to educational videos only

Use the app for 4 weeks

Answer a questionnaire before starting, after 2 weeks, and after 4 weeks

Perform an oral self-examination at week 4, which will be evaluated using a checklist

This trial will help determine whether mobile tele-education tools, especially those that include interactive features like serious games, are effective and acceptable ways to improve oral health education in older adults.

Conditions

• Oral Cancer
• Oral Health Knowledge, Attitude and Practice Among Patients
• Older Adults

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Mobile Oral Health Education App

This intervention consists of a mobile application designed to improve oral health knowledge, attitudes, and practices among older adults. The app includes educational videos about oral hygiene and oral cancer. In the experimental group, the app also incorporates interactive serious games to reinforce learning and promote oral self-examination. In the active comparator group, participants have access only to the educational videos within the same app. The intervention targets individuals aged 60 to 70 years and is evaluated over a 4-week period through questionnaires and observation of oral self-examination practices.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Universidad de La Frontera

  collaborator OTHER

• University of Chile

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Iris Lucia Espinoza-Santander, PhD in Public Health · Departament of Pathology and Oral Medicine, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Chile

• Constanza Beatriz Morales-Gómez, Master's Degree in Science · Departament of Pathology and Oral Medicine, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Chile

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

60 Years

Max Age

85 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2024-05-02

Primary Completion

2024-11-11

Completion

2024-11-11

Countries

• Chile

Study Locations