A novel strategy for improving bowel preparation based on social software‐enhanced education: A prospective, multicenter, randomized controlled study

Background and Aim The compliance and timeliness of oral laxatives have always been the key factors restricting bowel preparation (BP). We have constructed a novel enhanced‐educational content and process based on social software (SS) for BP to optimize these issues. Methods A multicenter, prospective, randomized controlled study was conducted at 13 hospitals in China from December 2019 to December 2020. A total of 1774 enrollees received standard instructions for BP and were randomly assigned (1:1) to the SS group (SSG) that received a smartphone‐based enhanced‐education strategy starting 4 h before colonoscopy or the control group (CG). Results A total of 3034 consecutive outpatient colonoscopy patients were assessed for eligibility, and 1774 were enrolled and randomly assigned. Ultimately, data from 1747 (SSG vs CG: 875 vs 872) enrollees were collected. The BP adequacy rate was 92.22% (95% CI: 90.46–93.98) in the SSG vs 88.05% (95% CI: 85.91–90.18) in the CG (P = 0.005), and the total Boston Bowel Preparation Scale scores (6.89 ± 1.15 vs 6.67 ± 1.15, P