Oral Health Education and Message Framing Effect on Oral Health Status of Refugees in Egypt

Alexandria University

Status: Enrolling

Conditions: Caries,Dental; Pocket, Periodontal; Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; Gingivitis; Plaque, Dental

Treatments: Behavioral: Gain and loss framed mobile text messages

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT06649760

Refugees oral health education

Details and patient eligibility

About

Refugees, facing forced displacement and often exposed to traumatic experiences, represent a vulnerable population with unique healthcare needs. Oral health is considered a prominent factor that contributes to quality of life.

Therefore, this study aim at assessing the effect of message framing on enhancing oral health practices in a group of refugees in Alexandria, Egypt. A three-arm cluster randomized controlled clinical trial will compare a gain-framed mobile text messages group, a loss-framed mobile text messages group, and a control group. The primary outcome is the improvement in oral health practices measured by changes in dental plaque and secondary outcome is to assess change in oral health-related quality of life. In addition, oral health knowledge, attitudes, and practices of refugees will be assessed.

Enrollment: 510 estimated patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Refugees older than 18 years old.
• From Arabic speaking countries.
• Has been resident in Alexandria, Egypt for at least 6 months.
• Having mobile phones to receive text messages.
• Agrees to participate in the study.

Exclusion criteria

• Planning to move away during 1 year study period.
• Participating in any kind of oral health education and promotion programs.

Trial design

Primary purpose: Prevention

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Quadruple Blind

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510 participants in 3 patient groups

Gain-framed messages

Experimental group

Description:

The participants will receive every 2 weeks a boosting reminder mobile text message in a gain-framed way. For example, "Great breath, healthy gums only a toothbrush away" "flossing your teeth daily removes particles of food in the mouth, avoiding bacteria, which promotes great breath."

Treatment:

Behavioral: Gain and loss framed mobile text messages

Loss-framed message

Experimental group

Description:

he participants will receive every 2 weeks a boosting reminder mobile text message in a loss-framed way. For example, "Brush now and avoid bad breath and gum disease", "If you don't floss your teeth daily, particles of food remain in the mouth, collecting bacteria, which causes bad breath."

Treatment:

Behavioral: Gain and loss framed mobile text messages

Control group

No Intervention group

Description:

Participants allocated to this group will not receive mobile text messages. They will only receive the oral health education session given to all participants at the beginning.