Patient education by smartphones for bowel preparation before colonoscopy

Abstract

Background and Aim We aim to evaluate the effect of smartphone education on the bowel preparation quality of patients undergoing colonoscopy by meta‐analysis. Methods Randomized controlled trials using smartphones to educate patients on bowel preparation for colonoscopy were screened from the PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, and Embase databases from inception to August 31, 2021. After extracting the data, Review Manager software was used for meta‐analysis. Results A total of 12 randomized controlled trials with 4165 patients were included in the meta‐analysis. There were 2060 patients in the smartphone group, including 1784 patients with adequate bowel preparation, with a rate of 86.6%, and 2105 patients in the control group, including 1614 patients with adequate bowel preparation, with a rate of 76.7%, and pooled risk ratio (RR) was 1.15 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.07–1.23, P < 0.01). Eight included studies reported the adenoma detection rate. The adenoma detection rate in the smartphone group was 26.2%, and the rate in the control group was 19.3%, with an RR of 1.29 (95% CI: 1.03–1.62, P < 0.05). Conclusion Using smartphones to educate patients on bowel preparation for colonoscopy improved the quality of bowel preparation and increased the adenoma detection rate.

A smartphone application to enhance bowel preparation for first-time colonoscopy: a randomized controlled study

“…Regarding technology-assisted bowel preparation education, various techniques, such as educational video aids, smartphone applications, and video clips sent via short messaging services, have been reported to be more effective than standard verbal instructions regarding adequate bowel preparation ( 13 – 19 , 25 , 26 ). Walter et al published a randomized controlled trial (RCT) involving 500 patients in 2021 using a technique similar to that in our study.…”

“…They found that smartphone education for bowel preparation instruction had a higher rate of adequate bowel preparation than standard education (92.3% vs. 83.1%, p = 0.0023) (18). A meta-analysis published in 2022 also demonstrated the benefit of smartphoneassisted education in bowel preparation, with the pooled risk ratio of achieving adequate bowel preparation of 1.15 (95%CI 1.07-1.23) over the control group (19). Nonetheless, results from subsequent RCTs found no significant difference in the proportion of adequate bowel preparation between the two groups (27,28).…”

“…Patient education on bowel cleansing using written instructions and verbal explanations is widely used. However, owing to the rapidly increasing number of individuals who use smartphones daily, studies have demonstrated the efficacy of educating individuals about bowel cleansing through mobile health technologies, such as automated short message services, video clips, and smartphone applications ( 12 – 19 ). There is an interest in smartphone applications to provide information and facilitate patient communication.…”

Improving adherence towards bowel preparation for colonoscopy

“…Lastly, it is important to remember that the type and timing of bowel preparation are not the only factors influencing the quality of bowel preparation. Extrinsic factors such as patient education, appointment reminders, and reducing the waiting times of colonoscopy appointments have been shown to improve adherence to bowel preparation and ultimately to a better quality colonoscopy 12,13 …”

“…Extrinsic factors such as patient education, appointment reminders, and reducing the waiting times of colonoscopy appointments have been shown to improve adherence to bowel preparation and ultimately to a better quality colonoscopy. 12 , 13 …”