Can Dietary Instructions Delivered Through Mobile Application Reduce Sweet Score among Adolescents in Chennai, India?–A Randomized Controlled Preventive Trial

Abstract

Background: Mobile health (mhealth) intervention has been proved to be effective in weight loss, diabetes
control and tobacco cessation Objective: To assess the effectiveness of mhealth intervention to reduce
consumption of cariogenic diet. Design and setting: Randomized controlled trial in field setting Materials
and method: Forty two adolescents who were in the “Watch-out” zone of sweet score were recruited for the
study. The subjects were randomly allotted into the test group (n=21) and the control group (n=21). A three
day diet diary was recorded from all study subjects and the average sweet score was assessed at baseline
and at post intervention. The subjects in the control group received standard one to one dietary instructions
tailored to the needs of the subjects only once at the start of the study. Subjects in the test group received
tailored dietary instructions once daily through mobile application (Whatsapp). Intra-group comparison
was made using Wilcoxon signed rank test and inter-group comparison was made using Mann Whitney U
test. P value <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The sweet score for the control group
at baseline was 20.9±6.06 while the post test score was 13.16±4.37 and the difference was statistically
significant (p=0.002). The sweet score for the test group at baseline was 18.02±4.03 while the post test score
was 14.5±7.74 and the difference was statistically significant (p=0.03). However, there was no statistically
significant difference in sweet score between the two groups at the end of the trail. Conclusion: mhealth
intervention is effective in reducing sweet score among adolescents.