Effects of wear time monitoring devices on patient’s compliance: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

Objective To determine and analyse the effects of wear time monitoring devices on patients’ compliance with removable orthodontic appliances.Methods A literature search was performed using PubMed, Central of the Cochrane Library and Google Scholar databases. Unpublished literature was searched on ClinicalTrials.gov. A Manual search was undertaken in orthodontic journals. The revised Cochrane risk-of-bias tool for randomized trials (RoB 2) was used for Randomized Controlled Trials and the ROBINS-I tool was used for non-Randomized Controlled Trials. The meta-analyses, using a random-effects model, were applied with RevMan 5.4.Results Studies that showed the effect of wear time measurement devices on patient compliance were selected. Twenty-five (7 RCTs and 18 nRCTs) articles were selected for the final systematic review. Nine studies were included in the meta-analysis. The average daily wear time of the appliance was higher in the subjects who were aware of being monitored as compared to those subjects who were kept blind (unaware) regarding monitoring status, with a mean difference of 2.62 (95% CI = 0.06 to 5.17; Z value = 2.01).Conclusion Compliance with removable appliances increases when patients are made aware of being monitored by wear time measurement devices. Patients tend to overestimate the duration of wear time hence wear time measurement devices should be used to assess compliance with removable orthodontic appliances.

Keywords

• Compliance
• sensor
• wear time