Cargando…

The Effects of Gamification and Oral Self-Care on Oral Hygiene in Children: Systematic Search in App Stores and Evaluation of Apps

BACKGROUND: Poor oral hygiene is a great public health problem worldwide. Oral health care education is a public health priority as the maintenance of oral hygiene is integral to overall health. Maintaining optimal oral hygiene among children is challenging and can be supported by using relevant mot...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Fijačko, Nino, Gosak, Lucija, Cilar, Leona, Novšak, Alenka, Creber, Ruth Masterson, Skok, Pavel, Štiglic, Gregor
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: JMIR Publications 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7381071/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32673235
http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/16365
_version_ 1783562968967938048
author Fijačko, Nino
Gosak, Lucija
Cilar, Leona
Novšak, Alenka
Creber, Ruth Masterson
Skok, Pavel
Štiglic, Gregor
author_facet Fijačko, Nino
Gosak, Lucija
Cilar, Leona
Novšak, Alenka
Creber, Ruth Masterson
Skok, Pavel
Štiglic, Gregor
author_sort Fijačko, Nino
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Poor oral hygiene is a great public health problem worldwide. Oral health care education is a public health priority as the maintenance of oral hygiene is integral to overall health. Maintaining optimal oral hygiene among children is challenging and can be supported by using relevant motivational approaches. OBJECTIVE: The primary aim of this study was to identify mobile smartphone apps that include gamification features focused on motivating children to learn, perform, and maintain optimal oral hygiene. METHODS: We searched six online app stores using four search terms (“oral hygiene game,” “oral hygiene gamification,” “oral hygiene brush game,” and “oral hygiene brush gamification”). We identified gamification features, identified whether apps were consistent with evidence-based dentistry, performed a quality appraisal with the Mobile App Rating Scale user version (uMARS), and quantified behavior scores (Behavior Change score, uMARS score, and Coventry, Aberdeen, and London-Refined [CALO-RE] score) using three different instruments that measure behavior change. RESULTS: Of 612 potentially relevant apps included in the analysis, 17 met the inclusion criteria. On average, apps included 6.87 (SD 4.18) out of 31 possible gamification features. The most frequently used gamification features were time pressure (16/17, 94%), virtual characters (14/17, 82%), and fantasy (13/17, 76%). The most common oral hygiene evidence-based recommendation was brushing time (2-3 minutes), which was identified in 94% (16/17) of apps. The overall mean uMARS score for app quality was high (4.30, SD 0.36), with good mean subjective quality (3.79, SD 0.71) and perceived impact (3.58, SD 0.44). Sufficient behavior change techniques based on three taxonomies were detected in each app. CONCLUSIONS: The majority of the analyzed oral hygiene apps included gamification features and behavior change techniques to perform and maintain oral hygiene in children. Overall, the apps contained some educational content consistent with evidence-based dentistry and high-quality background for oral self-care in children; however, there is scope for improvement.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-7381071
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2020
publisher JMIR Publications
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-73810712020-08-06 The Effects of Gamification and Oral Self-Care on Oral Hygiene in Children: Systematic Search in App Stores and Evaluation of Apps Fijačko, Nino Gosak, Lucija Cilar, Leona Novšak, Alenka Creber, Ruth Masterson Skok, Pavel Štiglic, Gregor JMIR Mhealth Uhealth Original Paper BACKGROUND: Poor oral hygiene is a great public health problem worldwide. Oral health care education is a public health priority as the maintenance of oral hygiene is integral to overall health. Maintaining optimal oral hygiene among children is challenging and can be supported by using relevant motivational approaches. OBJECTIVE: The primary aim of this study was to identify mobile smartphone apps that include gamification features focused on motivating children to learn, perform, and maintain optimal oral hygiene. METHODS: We searched six online app stores using four search terms (“oral hygiene game,” “oral hygiene gamification,” “oral hygiene brush game,” and “oral hygiene brush gamification”). We identified gamification features, identified whether apps were consistent with evidence-based dentistry, performed a quality appraisal with the Mobile App Rating Scale user version (uMARS), and quantified behavior scores (Behavior Change score, uMARS score, and Coventry, Aberdeen, and London-Refined [CALO-RE] score) using three different instruments that measure behavior change. RESULTS: Of 612 potentially relevant apps included in the analysis, 17 met the inclusion criteria. On average, apps included 6.87 (SD 4.18) out of 31 possible gamification features. The most frequently used gamification features were time pressure (16/17, 94%), virtual characters (14/17, 82%), and fantasy (13/17, 76%). The most common oral hygiene evidence-based recommendation was brushing time (2-3 minutes), which was identified in 94% (16/17) of apps. The overall mean uMARS score for app quality was high (4.30, SD 0.36), with good mean subjective quality (3.79, SD 0.71) and perceived impact (3.58, SD 0.44). Sufficient behavior change techniques based on three taxonomies were detected in each app. CONCLUSIONS: The majority of the analyzed oral hygiene apps included gamification features and behavior change techniques to perform and maintain oral hygiene in children. Overall, the apps contained some educational content consistent with evidence-based dentistry and high-quality background for oral self-care in children; however, there is scope for improvement. JMIR Publications 2020-07-08 /pmc/articles/PMC7381071/ /pubmed/32673235 http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/16365 Text en ©Nino Fijačko, Lucija Gosak, Leona Cilar, Alenka Novšak, Ruth Masterson Creber, Pavel Skok, Gregor Štiglic. Originally published in JMIR mHealth and uHealth (http://mhealth.jmir.org), 08.07.2020. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published in JMIR mHealth and uHealth, is properly cited. The complete bibliographic information, a link to the original publication on http://mhealth.jmir.org/, as well as this copyright and license information must be included.
spellingShingle Original Paper
Fijačko, Nino
Gosak, Lucija
Cilar, Leona
Novšak, Alenka
Creber, Ruth Masterson
Skok, Pavel
Štiglic, Gregor
The Effects of Gamification and Oral Self-Care on Oral Hygiene in Children: Systematic Search in App Stores and Evaluation of Apps
title The Effects of Gamification and Oral Self-Care on Oral Hygiene in Children: Systematic Search in App Stores and Evaluation of Apps
title_full The Effects of Gamification and Oral Self-Care on Oral Hygiene in Children: Systematic Search in App Stores and Evaluation of Apps
title_fullStr The Effects of Gamification and Oral Self-Care on Oral Hygiene in Children: Systematic Search in App Stores and Evaluation of Apps
title_full_unstemmed The Effects of Gamification and Oral Self-Care on Oral Hygiene in Children: Systematic Search in App Stores and Evaluation of Apps
title_short The Effects of Gamification and Oral Self-Care on Oral Hygiene in Children: Systematic Search in App Stores and Evaluation of Apps
title_sort effects of gamification and oral self-care on oral hygiene in children: systematic search in app stores and evaluation of apps
topic Original Paper
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7381071/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32673235
http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/16365
work_keys_str_mv AT fijackonino theeffectsofgamificationandoralselfcareonoralhygieneinchildrensystematicsearchinappstoresandevaluationofapps
AT gosaklucija theeffectsofgamificationandoralselfcareonoralhygieneinchildrensystematicsearchinappstoresandevaluationofapps
AT cilarleona theeffectsofgamificationandoralselfcareonoralhygieneinchildrensystematicsearchinappstoresandevaluationofapps
AT novsakalenka theeffectsofgamificationandoralselfcareonoralhygieneinchildrensystematicsearchinappstoresandevaluationofapps
AT creberruthmasterson theeffectsofgamificationandoralselfcareonoralhygieneinchildrensystematicsearchinappstoresandevaluationofapps
AT skokpavel theeffectsofgamificationandoralselfcareonoralhygieneinchildrensystematicsearchinappstoresandevaluationofapps
AT stiglicgregor theeffectsofgamificationandoralselfcareonoralhygieneinchildrensystematicsearchinappstoresandevaluationofapps
AT fijackonino effectsofgamificationandoralselfcareonoralhygieneinchildrensystematicsearchinappstoresandevaluationofapps
AT gosaklucija effectsofgamificationandoralselfcareonoralhygieneinchildrensystematicsearchinappstoresandevaluationofapps
AT cilarleona effectsofgamificationandoralselfcareonoralhygieneinchildrensystematicsearchinappstoresandevaluationofapps
AT novsakalenka effectsofgamificationandoralselfcareonoralhygieneinchildrensystematicsearchinappstoresandevaluationofapps
AT creberruthmasterson effectsofgamificationandoralselfcareonoralhygieneinchildrensystematicsearchinappstoresandevaluationofapps
AT skokpavel effectsofgamificationandoralselfcareonoralhygieneinchildrensystematicsearchinappstoresandevaluationofapps
AT stiglicgregor effectsofgamificationandoralselfcareonoralhygieneinchildrensystematicsearchinappstoresandevaluationofapps