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Improving nutritional status of children using artificial intelligence-based mobile application postsurgery:
Maryam Zahid1, Ume Sughra2, Sehrish Mumtaz1
1Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology and National Institute of Heart Diseases, Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
Insights
A mobile app improved post-surgery nutrition in children, showing slight weight and calorie intake increases. This highlights technology
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Surgery
- Nutritional Science
- Health Informatics
Background:
- Post-surgical malnutrition is prevalent in children, particularly in low- and middle-income countries.
- Mobile health applications offer a promising avenue for enhancing nutritional status in pediatric patients.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the effectiveness of a diet-related mobile application in improving the nutritional status of post-surgical children.
- To compare the outcomes of using a mobile health intervention versus standard dietary pamphlets.
Main Methods:
- A two-arm randomized controlled trial was conducted over six months at a tertiary care hospital.
- The intervention group received a diet-related mobile app, while the control group received dietary pamphlets.
- Sample size was calculated at 88 participants to achieve 80% power and a 5% significance level.
Main Results:
- After 8 weeks, the intervention group showed a mean weight of 17.1 kg (SD 5) compared to 16.5 kg (SD 7.2) in the usual care group.
- Average calorie intake was 1000.75 kcal (SD 210) for the intervention group and 972 kcal (SD 252) for the usual care group.
- Average protein intake was 39 g (SD 6.4) for the intervention group and 34.3 g (SD 12.5) for the usual care group.
Conclusions:
- The study suggests that mobile health technology can support self-nutrition monitoring for post-surgical pediatric patients.
- Both intervention and usual care groups demonstrated slight improvements in weight and nutritional intake.
Background:
Malnutrition is a common problem in children postsurgery especially in low-middle-income countries. Health-based mobile apps play an important role for better nutritional status.
Methods:
This is a two-arm randomised controlled trial, which was conducted at a tertiary care hospital, Rawalpindi. The study duration was 6 months from February 2021 to July 2021. The sample size with power of 80% and significance level of 5% was calculated to be 88. The intervention group was given a diet-related mobile app, and the usual care group was handed a pamphlet with diet instructions on discharge.
Findings:
The mean weight of all participants was 15 (SD 5.7) kg at the time of discharge. However, at the end of the 8th week, the mean weight of the participants in the usual care group was 16.5 (SD 7.2) kg and that of the intervention group was 17.1 (SD 5) kg. The average calorie consumed by the usual care group was 972 (SD 252) kcal and 1000.75 (SD 210) kcal by the intervention group after 8 weeks of discharge. The average protein consumed by the usual care group was 34.3 (SD 12.5) g and 39 (SD 6.4) g by the intervention group after 8 weeks of discharge.
Interpretation:
This study showed strength for the future of scalable modern technology for self-nutrition monitoring. There was a slight increase in the weight and nutritional intake of both groups.
Trial Registration Number:
NCT04782635.
