Designing multimedia patient education materials for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis: A protocol for a feasibility randomized controlled trial of patient education videos

STUDY PROTOCOL Designing multimedia patient education materials for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis: A protocol for a feasibility randomized controlled trial of patient education videos Garett Van OirschotID1*, Cailbhe Doherty1,2 1 School of Public Health, Physiotherapy & Sport Science, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland, 2 Insight SFI Research Centre for Data Analytics, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland * garett.vanoirschot@ucdconnect.ie Abstract Triple-masked three-armed feasibility parallel randomized controlled trial. Multimedia patient education materials are increasingly used in healthcare. While much research focuses on optimising their scientific content, research is equally needed to optimise design and implementation. This study aims to determine the feasibility of a study examining how the implementation of scientific advice on design affects patient outcomes. Participants aged 10–18 with radiographically confirmed adolescent idiopathic scoliosis will be recruited from community settings in Ireland and randomized into usual care or receiving multimedia educational videos with or without evidence-informed design principles. Participants will be masked in the two video intervention arms, as will the therapist sending the educational vid- eos. Outcomes will include the number of participants recruited and randomized, the num- ber analysed post-intervention and at week eight, and the outcomes for baseline, post- intervention, and week 8. Adverse events will also be reported. This feasibility randomized

controlled trial will offer insight into the feasibility of implementing advice from the literature in designing a trial of multimedia patient education materials for a population with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis. Trial registration: Clinical Trail: Trial is registered on ClinicalTrials.gov as NCT06090344. Introduction Patient education is a pillar of treatment that is recommended in many aspects of musculoskel- etal (MSK) care [1–10], including adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) [11,12]. Multimedia education is one option for conveying some of the information that healthcare providers may wish to pass on to a patient. They provide the accessibility, universality and usability that is desired in patient education aids [13]. While much healthcare research focuses on the content of educational materials, there are fewer interventional studies that examine the influence of design. Where such design research does exist, it is often in other medical areas [14–27] and PLOS ONE PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0297394 May 23, 2024 1 / 14 a1111111111 a1111111111 a1111111111 a1111111111 a1111111111 OPEN ACCESS Citation: Van Oirschot G, Doherty C (2024) Designing multimedia patient education materials for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis: A protocol for a feasibility randomized controlled trial of patient education videos. PLoS ONE 19(5): e0297394. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0297394 Editor: Holakoo Mohsenifar, Iran University of Medical Sciences, ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN Received: January 4, 2024 Accepted: April 23, 2024 Published: May 23, 2024

Peer Review History: PLOS recognizes the benefits of transparency in the peer review process; therefore, we enable the publication of all of the content of peer review and author responses alongside final, published articles. The editorial history of this article is available here: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0297394 Copyright: © 2024 Van Oirschot, Doherty. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Data Availability Statement: No datasets were generated or analysed during the current study. All relevant data from this study will be made available upon study completion.