Improving nutritional status of children using artificial intelligence-based mobile application postsurgery: Randomised controlled trial

Abstract

Background Malnutrition is a common problem in children postsurgery especially in low-middle-income countries. Health-based mobile apps play an important role for better nutritional status. Methods This is a two-arm randomised controlled trial, which was conducted at a tertiary care hospital, Rawalpindi. The study duration was 6 months from February 2021 to July 2021. The sample size with power of 80% and significance level of 5% was calculated to be 88. The intervention group was given a diet-related mobile app, and the usual care group was handed a pamphlet with diet instructions on discharge. Findings The mean weight of all participants was 15 (SD 5.7) kg at the time of discharge. However, at the end of the 8th week, the mean weight of the participants in the usual care group was 16.5 (SD 7.2) kg and that of the intervention group was 17.1 (SD 5) kg. The average calorie consumed by the usual care group was 972 (SD 252) kcal and 1000.75 (SD 210) kcal by the intervention group after 8 weeks of discharge. The average protein consumed by the usual care group was 34.3 (SD 12.5) g and 39 (SD 6.4) g by the intervention group after 8 weeks of discharge. Interpretation This study showed strength for the future of scalable modern technology for self-nutrition monitoring. There was a slight increase in the weight and nutritional intake of both groups. Trial registration number NCT04782635.