Short summary

Patients who undergo orthognathic surgery receive written information about dietary intake after surgery via the app "Mit sygehus". However, the patients describe their post-operative dietary intake as problematic, particularly in relation to the variety and amount of food consumed, additionally they report weight loss after surgery. Therefore, the possibilities of optimizing the app as a nutritional tool is investigated through qualitative patient interviews.

Rationale

Patients who have undergone orthognathic surgery may only consume liquid food the first ten days following surgery. Hereafter, they have to eat food with a soft texture for four weeks before returning to their usual diet. The patients receive both verbal and written information about their dietary intake after surgery. The written information is available via the app "Mit sygehus". The healthcare staff at the departement of oral and maxillofacial surgery at Odense University Hospital (OUH) report that the patients often describe their post-operative dietary intake as problematic, particularly in relation to the variety and amount of food consumed. The staff also experience that patients who undergo orthognathic surgery lose weight in the weeks following surgery. The above-mentioned issues have created interest in investigating the possibilities of optimizing the app "Mit sygehus" as a nutritional tool. Therefore the aim of the study is to investigate whether the app "Mit sygehus" offers sufficiently in-depth and usable patient information about nutrition after orthognathic surgery and update the app according to the findings.

Description of the cohort

The Patients included have undergone orthognathic surgery at the department of oral and maxillofacial surgery at OUH. At the time of inclusion, they refer to the outpatient clinic.

Data and biological material

Gender, age, and civil status are collected allong with data collected via interviews

Collaborating researchers and departments

The department of nurse education, University College Lillebælt

• Birgit Marie Hedegaard
• Line Lundell Andreasen