Satisfaction of Parents of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders With Dental Care Associated With a Mobile App for Sensory Deprivation in Neurodiverse Patients

Abstract

Patients with autism spectrum disorders pose a challenge to the dentist in terms of implement-ing preventive and treatment measures. This is due to the hypersensitivity of these patients to unavoidable dental stimuli and communication disorders. Previously, we developed a new method of mitigating dental stimuli for neurodiverse patients, realized in a mobile application. The aim of the study was to evaluate parental satisfaction with dental care against the back-ground of using a mobile application for sensory deprivation of children with autism. The study included 168 families with neurodiverse children who worked with the mobile application for 1 year. As a subjective criterion for evaluating the effectiveness of the mobile application, the opinion of the direct user (families - study participants) was analyzed, represented by a wide range of parametrics in terms of the multidimensional concept of "satisfaction" of expectations from the use of technology. The Customer Satisfaction Index was used to measure satisfaction with the interaction with the application during one year. The dynamics of the final satisfaction index after 1 and 12 months of the study (70.75% and 84.9%, respectively) indicates a positive subjective evaluation of both the process and the result of dental treatment of neurodiverse children using the mobile application.