Effect of a text-messaging intervention on oral self-care practices in antenatal women in Delhi, India: A pilot randomized control trial
Objective: This study aimed to determine the effect of a mHealth (text message) intervention compared with a structured health educational session on the oral care and hygiene practices of pregnant women. Materials and Methods: We conducted a pilot randomized control trial, parallel design superiori...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications
2022-01-01
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| Series: | Indian Journal of Community Medicine |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.ijcm.org.in/article.asp?issn=0970-0218;year=2022;volume=47;issue=1;spage=133;epage=137;aulast=Basu |
| Summary: | Objective: This study aimed to determine the effect of a mHealth (text message) intervention compared with a structured health educational session on the oral care and hygiene practices of pregnant women. Materials and Methods: We conducted a pilot randomized control trial, parallel design superiority trial, with a 1:1 allocation ratio. A total of 76 pregnant women up to 20 weeks of gestational age and capable of reading mobile phone text messages were recruited during August–October 2020 from the antenatal clinic of a primary health center in a low-income urban agglomeration in Delhi, India. The mHealth intervention arm participants were sent a daily text message for 30 days, while all participants were provided a one-time, face-face, brief didactic structured educational session toward oral health promotion. Results: The baseline characteristics of both groups were comparable in terms of age structure, education, parity, and oral hygiene but differed in terms of oral health problems. Postintervention, although the twice-brushing frequency increased in both arms, only the mHealth arm revealed a statistically significant reduction in the incidence of missed twice-daily brushing episodes (P = 0.016). Conclusions: A mHealth-based daily text-message intervention for 1 month was not superior to a one-time brief didactic structured educational intervention for oral health promotion in antenatal women. |
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| ISSN: | 0970-0218 1998-3581 |