iProcto: new digital technology in Proctology. A randomized study.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Advancements in technology have proved useful for many businesses including medical practices. Consequently, these improvements have increased the need to develop new applications for mobile devices. Our group conceived and developed an application for tablets, PCs, and smartphones with the aim to assist the physician in the management of the pelvic floor diseases: iProcto. The aim of this study was to evaluate the receptivity of patients resulting from using the said pelvic floor application (iProcto) during a colon-proctologic visit; and to establish whether it can be more efficient in helping with diagnosis compared to a traditional visit.

METHODS: We enrolled 126 patients with pelvic floor disorders during the period of 2013 and 2014. The average age of the patients ranging from 16 - 43 years of age, 80 of those, being women. Sixty-three patients were randomly assigned to iProcto consultation (group A), the remaining 63 patients to attended a regular consultation that did not include iProcto (group B). Post consultation, all patients were asked to answer a questionnaire anonymously where they were asked questions about their level of satisfaction, and clarity of the doctor's explanation, on a scale from 1 (dissatisfied) to 5 (completely satisfied).

RESULTS: Patients in group A have a score average relative to the degree of satisfaction of 4.2 ± 0.7 vs 3.5 ± 0.7 in the group B (m ± sd; p 0.001). Only 3 patients in group A and 15 in group B did not consider the visit satisfactory (score ≤2). With regard to the clarity of the physician the group A patients presented a means score of 4.4 ± 0.8 vs 3.5 ± 0.4 in the group B (m ± ds; p 0.001). Data shows that 95% showed a gain in satisfaction during the iProcto visit as compared to 78% without iProcto.

CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion the use of iProcto for the pelvic floor diseases can improve the understanding of the disease and increase the degree of patient satisfaction.