Abstract
BackgroundApps have been shown to be an effective tool in changing patients’ behaviours in orthodontics and can be used to improve their compliance with treatment. The Behaviour Change Techniques (BCTs) and quality (using MARS) within these apps have previously not been published.ObjectivesTo evaluate the quality of these apps aiming to change behaviour.To assess BCTs used in patient focused orthodontic apps.MethodsThe UK Google Play and Apple App Stores were searched to identify all orthodontic apps and 305 apps were identified. All 305 apps were assessed for the presence of BCTs using an accepted taxonomy of BCTs (Behaviour Change Wheel (BCW)), widely utilised in healthcare. Of those containing BCTs, the quality was assessed using the Mobile App Rating Scale (MARS), a validated and multi-dimensional tool which rates apps according to 19 objective criteria. Data collection was carried out by two calibrated, independent assessors and repeated after 6 weeks for 25% of the apps by both assessors.ResultsBCTs were found in 31 apps, although only 18 of them were analysed for quality and 13 apps were excluded. Six different BCTs were identified: these were most commonly ‘prompts/cues’, and ‘information about health consequences’. All apps were shown to be of moderate quality (range 3.1–3.7/5). Inter-rater and intra-rater reliability for BCT and quality assessment were excellent.ConclusionsThe current availability of orthodontic apps of sufficient quality to recommend to patients is very limited. There is therefore a need for high-quality orthodontic apps with appropriate BCTs to be created, which may be utilised to improve patients’ compliance with treatment.
Highlights
Apps have been shown to be an effective tool in changing patients’ behaviours in orthodontics and can be used to improve their compliance with treatment
Behaviour Change Techniques (BCTs) were found in 31 apps, only 18 of them were analysed for quality and 13 apps were excluded
The current availability of orthodontic apps of sufficient quality to recommend to patients is very limited
Summary
Apps have been shown to be an effective tool in changing patients’ behaviours in orthodontics and can be used to improve their compliance with treatment. Traditional methods of providing information alone may be insufficient to improve compliance due to the limitations in a number of these. This may be due to the fact that behaviour change is dependent on a set of key factors including cognition, attitude and cultural variation [3]. To this end, a systematic review concluded that there was insufficient evidence to allow orthodontists to choose a single method to improve compliance in our patients [4]
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