THE IMPACT OF SMARTPHONE APPLICATION ON THE QUALITY OF BOWEL PREPARATION FOR COLONOSCOPY IN VIETNAM

Aims The development and feasibility of smartphone apps in limited resources countries is not yet clear. This study is aimed to evaluate the impact of smartphone apps on the quality of bowel preparation compared to conventional protocol.

Methods A smart phone app was developed by the Institute of Gastroenterology and Hepatology. A clinical intervention, endoscopist-blind, with a control group was performed in Hanoi Medical University hospital. The cleansing level of colonoscopy was evaluated by BBPS score.

Results 432 patients (235 in control group and 197 in intervention group) were recruited. The proportion of compliance with instructions for bowel preparation was high with no statistically significant difference in both groups: taking prescribed laxatives (97%) and water (94.2%); compliance with walking (92.1%) and massaging abdomen (67.8%) while taking laxatives. 72.1% of patients spent 2-3 hours on taking laxatives and water, in which, the percentage of the intervention group (75.5%) was higher than the control group (69.2%), p=0.033. The proportion of eligible patients undergoing colonoscopy in the intervention group (95.9%) was lower than the control group (98.7%), p>0.05. The level of colonic cleanliness self-assessed by patients at the last defecation that reached the standard in the control group (92.3%) was lower than the intervention group (95.4%), p=0.009. The BBPS scores in the right and left colon of the intervention group were higher than the control group with significant difference (p<0.05) while there was no difference in the total scores.

Conclusions The smartphone app is a novel educational with high applicability and efficiency improvement for bowel preparation.

Publication History

Article published online:
14 April 2022