The Dyspepsia Educational Tool As a Novel Aid in Dyspepsia Management

Summary

This protocol describes the development process of a digital dyspepsia educational tool. Assessment of unmet needs and literature, content development, and building of the tool are presented. The methodology can be used as a guide for future development of digital educational tools.

Abstract

Digital educational tools have a well-established role in current healthcare. In particular, disorders that are managed non-pharmacologically benefit from this development, as it enables patient engagement in self-management. Dyspepsia is a condition thought to arise from gastric and duodenal perturbations, brain-gut axis disturbances, and dietary factors. Behavioral interventions are a major part of dyspepsia treatment, hence patient engagement and motivation through education is essential. Protocols that describe the development process of such educational tools are scarce. We provide a methodology describing development of a dyspepsia educational tool. Assessment of users' needs is the first step, followed by a literature search. The content is developed based on the main themes and entered into a content management system, to build the program. Final adjustments are made after a pilot test of the tool. The presented protocol can be used as a guide for development of a digital dyspepsia educational tool or as a tool for similar situations.

Introduction

Patient education is an important component of healthcare, enabling active engagement of patients in responsible management of their health¹. To improve efficacy and appropriate use of healthcare resources, contemporary and disease-specific measures are needed to facilitate patient engagement.

Nowadays, digital tools increasingly replace paper versions of patient education, benefiting from their sustainability, effective distribution, and potential to visualize information. For chronic illnesses that lack curative treatment and biological substrate, education is essential for motivation of patients to engage in self....

Protocol

All procedures described in this protocol were approved by the Radboud university medical center Institutional Review Board (file no. 2016-3074).

1. Preliminary research

1. Focus groups to assess unmet needs in dyspepsia management
   1. Create a structure for a focus group with dyspeptic patients and with general practitioners.
   2. Conduct a focus group. Keep conducting additional focus groups until saturation of information is reached.
      NOTE: For this study two focus groups were conducted.
      1. Recruit participants from patient organization platforms and the gastroenterology outpatient clinic.
      ....

Results

Results of focus groups

Five patients, recruited through patient networks (n = 2) or at the outpatient clinic (n = 3), were invited to join a focus group. All focus group patients were diagnosed with dyspepsia based on the opinion of a gastroenterologist. Characteristics of included patients are presented in Table 1.

Most participants .......

Discussion

The digital dyspepsia educational tool, developed using the abovementioned protocol, is a novel multimedia educational tool to assist patients and physicians in management of dyspepsia. This tool may be deployed to stimulate patient engagement, and improve health outcomes while curtailing inappropriate use of medical resources.

A similar procedure has been described for development of a fibromyalgia app¹⁵. As with dyspepsia, management of fibromyalgia focuses initially .......

Materials

List of materials used in this article

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
Dyspepsia e-learning	Dyspepsia e-learning		Digital educational tool for dyspepsia management
Paper Food Diary	Any		Schedule to record food consumption and symptoms
Computer	Any		A computer or tablet should be used to complete the e-learning
Medify Content Management System	Medify BV		A content management system to process the e-learning content