Effect of Self-Care Education on Lifestyle and Quality of Life in Patients With Inflammatory Bowel Diseases: A Comparison Between a Smartphone Application and Teach-Back

Abstract

This randomized clinical trial was conducted with the aim of comparing the effect of self-care education through two methods, a smartphone application (app) and teach-back (TB), on lifestyle and quality of life (QoL) in patients with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). This three-stage randomized clinical trial was conducted among 90 patients with IBD in Mashhad, Iran. Eligible patients were allocated to three groups (app, TB, and control) using simple blocked randomization. In each group, data were collected by a demographic checklist, the Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis questionnaire, and the Miller-Smith Lifestyle questionnaire. Before the intervention, the results of one-way analysis of variance showed that there was no statistically significant difference between the three groups in terms of the mean scores of lifestyle and QoL (p > .05). However, a significant difference was observed between the three groups after the intervention (p < .05). The results of this study show that self-care education through two methods of an app and TB has a significant effect on improving IBD patients' lifestyle and QoL, and there is no significant difference between the two methods in terms of effectiveness. Considering the advantages of apps, it is suggested to apply this method for patient education.