Smartphone App to Improve Functional Outcomes in Ankle Sprains (SPRAIN)
Ankle Sprains
About this trial
This is an interventional treatment trial for Ankle Sprains
Eligibility Criteria
Inclusion Criteria:
(i) Age 12-21 years (ii) Presenting to the Emergency Department of the Children's Hospital, London Health Sciences Centre, London, Ontario, with a unilateral acute (<48 hours) ankle inversion injury.
(iii) Use a WiFi enabled smartphone with either an iOS or Android operating system with enough memory capability to host the App.
The diagnosis of an ankle inversion injury will be made on a clinical basis by the treating emergency physician after a fracture has been ruled out radiographically. We will include all grades of ankle injuries, including suspected Salter-Harris I of the distal tibia or fibula.
Exclusion Criteria:
- Children unable to read or understand English above at least a grade 8 literacy level
- Children who are not independently ambulatory (without the use of an assistive device)
- Children with a developmental disability precluding the full comprehension of study-related procedures,
- Children with multi-system or multi-limb injuries
- Children with a concomitant lower extremity fracture or dislocation (with the exception of a suspected Salter-Harris type I injury).
Sites / Locations
- London Health Sciences Centre
Arms of the Study
Arm 1
Arm 2
Experimental
Active Comparator
Smartphone app
Paper handout
The smartphone group will not be given paper-based discharge instructions in the ED. They will download onto their smartphone device an Intervention App that will allow recording of the above mentioned study outcomes and contains an interactive educational component encompassing the identical information outlined in the paper handout. The app will provide educational guidance towards recovery using a feedback algorithm that will recommend on a daily basis, the use of ice, elevation, range of motion exercises, and/or analgesics based on the participant's report of their pain using the FPS-R.
The paper handout group will be asked to read the paper-based discharge instructions in the ED, outlining pharmacological and non-pharmacological pain management and return to activity. They will download onto their smartphone device a Recording App that will only allow them to record the following study outcome measures: daily use of ice, analgesia, range of motion exercises, elevation, pain using the Faces Pain Scale - Revised (FPS-R), and ASKp scores on days 3, 5, 7, 10, 12, and 14.