Users' Perspectives, Opportunities, and Barriers of the Strengthen Your Ankle App for Evidence-Based Ankle Sprain Prevention: Mixed-Methods Process Evaluation for a Randomized Controlled Trial.
Miriam van Reijen, Marianne Asscheman, Ingrid Vriend and 2 others
PMID 29980497WHAT IT FOUND
The app and booklet produced similar ankle sprain recurrence and similar compliance.
App users later rated the app more satisfying, easier and less annoying, but only 23% were still doing part of the program at 12 months.
Key findings
01Self-reported recurrent ankle sprain incidence during 8 weeks was 25.3 per 1000 hours of sport in the app group and 25.6 per 1000 hours in the booklet group, with no significant difference.
02Average 8-week compliance was 73.3% in the app group and 76.7% in the booklet group, with no significant difference.
03App users gave higher satisfaction scores, 7.7 out of 10 versus 7.1 for booklet users, and 14 of 16 interviewees said the app would add benefit, mainly phone availability, visual support, and reminders.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
The effectiveness and compliance outcomes were summarized from previous publications, not newly reported as a standalone trial in this paper. Many participants dropped out, 57 after 8 weeks and 44 more after 12 months, and reasons were unknown. After 8 weeks, 35 app users and 22 booklet users discontinued for unknown reasons. Only 16 interviews were conducted, and they happened months after the 8-week program, so recall may be limited. Interview participants were self-selected from 32 of 119 remaining participants, so strong opinions may be overrepresented. One researcher conducted and transcribed all interviews, and the interviewer did not fully structure the interviews, which may affect analysis. The study measured compliance in a controlled setting rather than real-life adherence.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that the app prevents more ankle sprains or improves adherence because users were more satisfied. The app and booklet had similar compliance and similar recurrent ankle sprain incidence, and the satisfaction finding was about user experience, not injury prevention.