Oral Health Promotion Mediated by Teledentistry in Community-dwelling Older Adults of La Araucanía Region, Chile

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

COMPLETED

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

117 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2023-03-03

Study Completion Date

2023-10-14

Brief Summary

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The goal of this randomized clinical trial is to compare the knowledge, attitudes, and oral health self-efficacy in self-sufficient elders aged over 60 years of 4 cities of La Araucanía región, Chile.

The main questions it aims to answer are:

* Can the development and implementation of a teledentistry strategy focused on community-dwelling older adults of the La Araucanía region improve participants' knowledge, attitudes, and self-efficacy in oral health?
* Could this teledentistry strategy have acceptability greater than 80%?

Participants will receive a dental-medical-geriatric diagnosis in a mobile dental clinic supported by a web platform called Teleplatform of Geriatric Dental Specialties (TEGO) and individual oral health education.

The researchers will compare a comparison group that will receive face-to-face individual oral health education with an intervention group, called tele-education group, that will receive educational reinforcement through a teledentistry strategy mediated by oral health educational videos sent via WhatsApp; to see if there are differences in the knowledge, attitudes, and oral health self-efficacy between the groups.

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Detailed Description

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Access to oral health promotion for the elderly has been limited during their lifetime. The purpose of this study is the development and pilot implementation of an oral health promotion strategy mediated by teledentistry focused on community-dwelling older adults of the La Araucanía region. To this end, a randomized clinical trial is proposed with pre- and post-intervention tests to be carried out in a sample (n:120) of people over 60 years of age from 4 cities in this region. Both groups will undergo a dental-medical-geriatric diagnosis in a mobile dental clinic supported by a web platform called Teleplatform of Geriatric Dental Specialties (TEGO) and individual oral health education. The intervention group will also receive educational reinforcement through oral health videos sent via WhatsApp (Tele-education). The strategy will be evaluated through a questionnaire of knowledge, attitudes and self-efficacy in oral health that will be applied before and after the interventions received by both groups. The acceptability of the tele-educational strategy will be assessed. The statistical analysis contemplates the description of the sociodemographic profiles of the participants and the acceptability perceived by those who make up the tele-education group. The average of the scores obtained in the pre and post-test of the questionnaire will be compared within each group through the T-test for related samples and the average of the final scores will be compared between both groups through the T-test for independent samples. Likewise, the relationship between the post-test results, sociodemographic variables, and clinical variables will be evaluated through the Pearson Correlation Coefficient. A value of p \< 0.05 was chosen as the threshold for significance.

Conditions

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Oral Health Knowledge Oral Health Attitudes Oral Health Self-efficacy

Study Design

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Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

The participants were contacted via phone calls for enrolment in TEGO platform where the pre-test of knowledge, attitudes and oral health self-efficacy was applied. Then, they were scheduled for medical-dental-geriatric diagnosis in a mobile dental clinic where all receive a standardized face-to-face oral health individual education. The investigator in charge of sending the videos performed age-stratified randomization in every city of the study using a random number generator function of the Epidat 4.2 program for the allocation of the participants in comparison or intervention groups. The videos were sent to the participants in the intervention group, this information is masked for the dental care providers and for the outcome assessor. 6 weeks later the face-to-face intervention both groups were assessed in with the post-test via phone call.

Primary Study Purpose

PREVENTION

Blinding Strategy

DOUBLE

Caregivers Outcome Assessors

The random assignment was blinded for the dental care provider, outcome assesor and for the co-investigator in charge of the statistical analysis. (Double-blind RCT)

Study Groups

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Tele-education

The tele-education group will receive the same intervention as the comparison group with an educational reinforcement mediated by teledentistry. This intervention consists of 4 educational videos, designed for the elderly, promoting correct toothbrushing and flossing, detection, and prevention of dental caries, periodontal disease, and oral cancer. These four videos were sent via WhatsApp.

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Teledentistry oral health promotion

Intervention Type DEVICE

Educational videos specially designed and validated for elderly (duration 4 to 6 minutes each one)

Face-to-Face oral health promotion

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Standardized PowerPoint presentation of 15 minutes about the most common or dangerous oral diseases (dental caries, periodontal disease and oral cancer), and toothbrushing and flossing practice in dental models

Comparison

The comparison group receive a medical-dental-geriatric diagnosis and face-to-face standardized education via powerpoint presentation and use of dental models for the promotion of correct toothbrushing and flossing, detection, and prevention of dental caries, periodontal disease, and oral cancer.

Group Type ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Face-to-Face oral health promotion

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Standardized PowerPoint presentation of 15 minutes about the most common or dangerous oral diseases (dental caries, periodontal disease and oral cancer), and toothbrushing and flossing practice in dental models

Interventions

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Teledentistry oral health promotion

Educational videos specially designed and validated for elderly (duration 4 to 6 minutes each one)

Intervention Type DEVICE

Face-to-Face oral health promotion

Standardized PowerPoint presentation of 15 minutes about the most common or dangerous oral diseases (dental caries, periodontal disease and oral cancer), and toothbrushing and flossing practice in dental models

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* Adults over 60 years of age residing in La Araucanía Region
* Self-valent (Barthel index ≥ 90)
* With access to a smartphone and internet
* Ability to follow instructions and adequate mobility to go up to a mobile dental clinic.