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Updated: Aug 17, 2026
E-Patient Counseling Trial (E-PACO): Computer Based Education versus Nurse Counseling for Patients to Prepare for Colonoscopy
Published on: August 1, 2019
Randomized controlled trial of general practitioner tutor visit or mailing to encourage general practice-based
1The Medical Centre, Haydock, St Helens WA11 0JN, UK.
Objectives:
Evaluation of a general practitioner tutor visit, or mailing, with regard to the amount of practice-based education occurring in general practices.
Design:
An initial survey of all practices in the Mersey Deanery was undertaken. General practices which replied were randomly allocated to receive a GP tutor visit (n=38), to receive a mailing (n=38) or to a control group (n=36). Visits carried out by tutors covered a loosely agreed format. All practices were sent a follow-up survey identical to the original one at 6 months after the intervention.
Setting:
General practices in the Mersey Deanery, north-west England.
Subjects:
General practices which had replied to an initial survey.
Results:
The amount of both specifically arranged and informal practice-based meetings increased in all groups. No changes were statistically significant.
Conclusions:
This study illustrates the difficulty of assessing educational interventions by randomized controlled trials. Such interventions are often expensive, complex and difficult to standardize. A substantial amount of practice-based education is taking place.
