Evaluation of the information transmission of treatment with dental aligners in social media: empathetic language versus non-empathetic language.

BACKGROUND

Information presented in audiovisual format, is more effective in the retention of information by patients than traditional written methods. On the other hand, empathy in the transmission of information is a crucial element in the relationship between health professionals and patients. This study aimed to determine whether the presentation of information in audiovisual format in an affective and empathetic way, as is done in social networks, improves the knowledge acquired by orthodontic patients treated with aligners.

METHODS

60 participants, which were equally randomized in 2 groups, took part in this pilot study. Two videos were created that delivered the same informative content about treatment with dental aligners. One video used non-technical and empathetic language, for the level of understanding of patients (empathic video: EG), and the other used technical (similar to that used in clinical practice) but non-empathetic language (non-empathetic video: N-EG). Thirty randomized participants watched the empathic video and another thirty watched the non-empathetic video, and then completed the same questionnaire to compare the information acquired. The relative frequencies of correct responses in each group, were analysed by means of cross-tabulations. The significance of the differences between the results of the two groups was calculated with the Chi-square test.

RESULTS

The questionnaire confirmed that 70% of the participants had no prior knowledge of aligners. The 66.7% of patients, had no relatives or close friends or family who had been previously treated with aligners. Also 75% of them, stated that they had not previously searched for information about aligners on the Internet. After viewing the videos, all patients were able to respond adequately to most of the questions asked, regardless of whether they had viewed the empathic (EG) or non-empathetic (N-EG) video. Significant differences (p < 0,05) were recorded in 2 questions classified as technical difficulty, in which the EG obtained better results in terms of knowledge acquired than the N-EG.

CONCLUSIONS

Showing audiovisual format information to patients, improves patients' understanding of orthodontic treatment with dental aligners. Empathy enhances acquired knowledge for unusual and unknown information.