The goal of this RCT is to assess the effectiveness of a mobile application in enhancing the preoperative preparation of patients scheduled for elective surgery under anesthesia or procedural sedation. The main object is to evaluate the effect of preoperative instructions, delivered through reminders and push notifications, on the rate of late cancellations. Secondary outcomes are adherence to preoperative instructions, patient satisfaction, and care provider satisfaction.
Participants will be randomly assigned to one of two groups: 1) Intervention group: patients will be asked to download a mobile application specifically designed for preoperative guidance. Through this app they will receive all relevant preoperative instructions via automated reminders and push notifications (e.g., fasting and medication adjustment). In addition, they will be asked to complete a short questionnaire via the app. 2) Control group: patients will download the same mobile application and will be asked to fill out the same questionnaire. However, they will not receive any preoperative instructions through the app. All patients in both groups will continue to receive the standard written instructions. App access will be maintained until five days after surgery.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH
Masking
TRIPLE
Enrollment
10,000
The mobile application provides patients with tailored information during the preoperative period until seven days after surgery. 1) Before the preoperative outpatient clinic visits, patient will receive information regarding the preoperative screening process and an overview of available anesthesia techniques through videos embedded in the app. 2) After approval for surgery and during the period leading up to the day of surgery, they will receive instructions concerning medication adjustment, lifestyle modifications, fasting rules, and hygiene measures.
Patients in the control group will be asked to download the same mobile app but they will not receive the same tailored information as those in the intervention group. Instead, they will be provided with standard preoperative information and instructions. In addition, they will be asked to fill out the same questionnaire as the intervention group.
Jeroen Bosch Hospital
's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands
Rate of late cancellations
Unexpected cancellation of a scheduled surgical case on the day of surgery, prior to the procedure taking place.
Time frame: Day of surgery
Adherence to preoperative instructions
Adherence to instruction regarding anticoagulants, antihypertensive medication, hypoglicaemic medication, astma/COPD medication, fasting rules. This outcome will be assessed as a binary outcome (yes/no) based on wether the patients has followed all relevant preoperative instructions.
Time frame: Day of surgery
Patient satisfaction
Patient satisfaction will be assessed using the Usability: System Usability Scale (SUS)/ Mobile App Usability Questionnaire (MAUQ)1. Vaarious aspects of the app's use will be evaluated including quality, quantity and timing of information provided. Satisfaction will be measured on a numerical scale from 0 (not satisfied at all) to 10 (extremely satisfied).
Time frame: 7 days after surgery
Care provider satisfaction
preoperative screening nurses and surgeons will be asked to complete a questionnaire at 6 and 12 months after implementation. Their experince with patient's use of the app will be assessed using a numerical rating scale ranging from 0 (not usefull at all) to 10 (extremely usefull)
Time frame: At 6 and 12 months after implementation
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