Improving Adolescent-dentist Interaction Through Digital Technology

NCT03907514 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: 022019
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 184
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The aim of the present study is to assess the impact of a digital tool on the interaction between the dentist and the adolescent patient, concerning the level of dental anxiety and communication. To achieve this purpose, a Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial will be performed using a short version of e-SAID (Survey of Anxiety and Information for Dentists) in Portuguese (FALE). That is, the intervention to be tested is an application usage, which will contain a questionnaire with questions supposedly made by the dentist, about feelings regarding the dental appointment and preferences for coping with dental treatment. Thus, the use of this digital tool aims to facilitate communication, favoring the adolescent-dentist relationship, and establishing empathy.

Conditions

Dental Anxiety

Keywords

Technology Assessment, Health; Dental anxiety; Adolescent; Clinical Trial

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Changes in adolescent patient's level of dental anxiety through the FALE application.

  Changes in patient's level of dental anxiety will be obtained through the question: "How do you feel about coming to see your dentist today?". This question is inserted in the FALE application and is answered through a seven-point face scale.

  The outcome measure will be assessed before a single dental appointment in two stages: at the beginning and after four minutes, in the end of the "FALE" application use.

Study Arms (2)

Intervention Group (IG)

EXPERIMENTAL

The adolescents in this group will use the "FALE" application through a smartphone in the waiting room before the dental appointment. When starting to answer the application, the adolescent will report his/her level of dental anxiety through the question, "How do you feel about coming to see your dentist today?", and record his/her answer on a seven-point face scale. Then the participant will continue to answer the 12 other questions, and finally registers his/her anxiety level once more through the same question.

Behavioral: "FALE" Application

Control Group (CG)

NO INTERVENTION

Similarly to IG, the adolescents in this group will use the "FALE" application through a smartphone, but only to record their level of anxiety by answering the question "How do you feel about coming to see your dentist today?" using a seven-point face scale. Instead of continuing to answer the other questions, the application will guide him to wait for the one-minute interval (expected time to answer the questionnaire) and, once more, ask the same question regarding his/her feeling about the experience with the dentist.

Interventions

"FALE" Application BEHAVIORAL

"FALE" is a digital tool, in the form of an application for smartphones, which aims to demonstrate empathy and facilitate communication between the adolescent patient and the dentist. The application contains 14 questions regarding dental anxiety, feelings and patient coping preferences regarding dental care.

Intervention Group (IG)

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 10 Years - 19 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Child (0-17), Adult (18-64)

You may qualify if:

• Brazilian adolescents literate in Portuguese
• Brazilian adolescents able to use smartphone

You may not qualify if:

• Adolescents with intellectual, sensory or physical disabilities
• Adolescents not capable to read and write/type

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Pernambuco: lead
• Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

Federal University of Pernambuco

Recife, Pernambuco, 50670-901, Brazil

Location

Related Publications (3)

• Yee R, Jones LM, Hosey MT. What the child "SAID" to the dentist: A UK randomized controlled trial. Child Care Health Dev. 2017 Nov;43(6):926-932. doi: 10.1111/cch.12510. Epub 2017 Aug 30.

  PMID: 28857237 BACKGROUND

• Jones L. Validation and randomized control trial of the e-SAID, a computerized paediatric dental patient request form, to intervene in dental anxiety. Child Care Health Dev. 2015 Jul;41(4):620-5. doi: 10.1111/cch.12200. Epub 2014 Oct 6.

  PMID: 25287626 BACKGROUND

• Jones LM, Huggins TJ. The rationale and pilot study of a new paediatric dental patient request form to improve communication and outcomes of dental appointments. Child Care Health Dev. 2013 Nov;39(6):869-72. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2214.2012.01416.x. Epub 2012 Jul 30.

  PMID: 22846104 BACKGROUND

Study Officials

• Viviane Colares, Professor

  University of Pernambuco

  STUDY CHAIR

• Trícia Mayer, PhD student

  University of Pernambuco

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Masking Details: Blindness will be possible to the psychologist, who will evaluates the patient's cooperation, and the statistician responsible for the data analysis.
• Purpose: OTHER
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: PhD student in Pediatric Dentistry, Principal Investigator

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: January 31, 2019
• First Posted: April 9, 2019
• Study Start: April 4, 2019
• Primary Completion: November 28, 2019
• Study Completion: November 28, 2019
• Last Updated: February 19, 2020

Record last verified: 2020-02

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

BR (1)