Observational Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2024. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastrointest Surg. Sep 27, 2024; 16(9): 2968-2978
Published online Sep 27, 2024. doi: 10.4240/wjgs.v16.i9.2968
Bowel preparation experiences and needs before follow-up colonoscopy in older adult postoperative colorectal cancer patients: A qualitative study
Bin He, Yi Xin, Rui Li, Fu-Cai Lin, Guang-Ming Zhang, Hai-Jing Zhu
Bin He, Yi Xin, Fu-Cai Lin, Wuxi Medical College, The Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, Jiangsu Province, China
Rui Li, Department of Nursing, The Tongren Hospital Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200335, China
Guang-Ming Zhang, Department of Anesthesiology, The Tongren Hospital Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200335, China
Hai-Jing Zhu, Department of Endoscopy, The Tongren Hospital Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200335, China
Co-first authors: Bin He and Yi Xin.
Co-corresponding authors: Rui Li and Guang-Ming Zhang.
Author contributions: He B, Xin Y, Lin FC, Zhang GM and Li R contributed to the research design and thesis writing; He B, Xin Y and Zhu HJ collected and analyzed the data; He B, Xin Y and Lin FC contributed to the data collection; Li R and Zhang GM overall supervise the study; and all authors contributed to the article and approved the submitted version.
Institutional review board statement: The study was reviewed and approved by The Shanghai Tongren Hospital Ethics Committee.
Informed consent statement: All study participants, or their legal guardian, provided informed written consent prior to study enrollment.
Conflict-of-interest statement: There are no conflicts of interest to report.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement—checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement—checklist of items.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Rui Li, MSc, Chief Nurse, Department of Nursing, The Tongren Hospital Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, No. 1111 Xianxia Road, Changning District, Shanghai 200335, China. 18616365160@163.com
Received: July 13, 2024
Revised: July 23, 2024
Accepted: July 29, 2024
Published online: September 27, 2024
Processing time: 66 Days and 15.8 Hours
Core Tip

Core Tip: Patient experiences during bowel preparation significantly influence compliance and the quality of colonoscopies. Older adult postoperative colorectal cancer patients are particularly prone to poor bowel preparation quality. This study, using a phenomenological methodology with semi-structured interviews, explored the bowel preparation experiences and needs of these patients. Unexpectedly, it revealed that despite prior experience, their knowledge of bowel preparation was still inadequate. They faced substantial physical and psychological challenges, with specific needs identified during the process. This research can inform customized bowel preparation plans for this high-risk group and suggests future studies on the impact of psychological factors on bowel preparation quality.