An abdominal vibration combined with walking exercise (AVCWE) program for older patients with constipation:...

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Gastroenterology
• Clinical Intervention

Background:

• Older adults with constipation face challenges with adequate bowel preparation for procedures like colonoscopy.
• Current strategies for bowel preparation are not specifically tailored for elderly patients experiencing constipation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel Abdominal Vibration combined with Walking Exercise (AVCWE) program.
• To assess the feasibility and acceptance of the AVCWE program in older patients with constipation undergoing colonoscopy.

Main Methods:

• Phase I involved expert consensus using the Delphi technique to design the AVCWE protocol.
• Phase II was a single-arm feasibility study with 30 older constipated patients, collecting feedback via evaluation forms and open-ended questions.
• Content analysis was employed for qualitative data analysis to refine the program.

Main Results:

• The developed AVCWE program incorporates at least 5,500 walking steps and two cycles of abdominal vibration (10 min on, 10 min rest) during laxative intake.
• Patient feedback scores for the AVCWE program were highly positive, ranging from 9.07 ± 0.74 to 9.73 ± 0.52.

Conclusions:

• The AVCWE program, created with multidisciplinary expert input, was successfully developed and demonstrated high acceptance among older patients with constipation.
• Participants found the AVCWE program to be simple, safe, appropriate, and beneficial for bowel preparation.
• This study offers valuable insights for enhancing bowel preparation strategies in the elderly population suffering from constipation.