A Caregiver-mediated Health Educational Intervention to Improve Constipation Status of Primary School Children
Condition: Constipation
MeSH terms: Constipation
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      The research adopts caregiver-mediated health educational intervention to Improve
      constipation status of primary school children. It is a quasi-experimental design study,
      which will enroll students in the 3rd to 6th grades of two primary schools and their parents
      in Yunlin County. There will be 200 children in the experimental group and 200 in the control
      group. Parents in the experimental group will receive health educational leaflets every week
      and no intervention will be given to the control group. Both the experimental and control
      groups students will be asked to fill up a questionnaire at the before and after the
      intervention with a total of 8 weeks. The study can provide the understanding of the current
      status of constipation in primary school children, parents' awareness and attitudes on
      constipation-related issues.
    

Detailed description: 
      Background and Purposes: Constipation among children is a global health issue. It can
      distribute a significant impact on medical, social, and economic dimensions, and can delay
      children's growth. Without proper treatments on constipation, it would reduce the cure rate
      and increase recurrence rate. Early diagnosis can improve the prognosis of functional
      constipation. Only a few studies of children constipation are available in the literature, so
      it is critical to investigate the topic of constipation among children.

      Methods: This is a quasi-experimental design study, which will enroll students in the 3rd to
      6th grades of two primary schools and their parents in Yunlin. There will be 200 children in
      the experimental group and 200 in the control group; a total of 400 students and their
      parents. Parents in the experimental group will receive health educational leaflets every
      week and students will have to record the situation of defecation once a week. No
      intervention will be given to the control group. The 4-weeks intervention is scheduled to be
      from September to November 2020, with a total of 8 weeks. Both the experimental and control
      groups will be asked to fill up a questionnaire at the before and after the intervention. The
      questionnaire includes the defecation and constipation situation of children, physical
      activity, dietary behavior, life pressure, and parents' knowledge and attitude toward
      constipation. Both groups of children have to fill out the Stool diary record sheet,
      including the intervention period and the follow-up period for a total of 8 weeks Children
      with the first and second types of the Bristol Stool Scale will be defined as constipation.

      Expected results: The study can provide the understanding of the current status of
      constipation in primary school children, parents' awareness and attitudes on
      constipation-related issues. Besides, through the study, a simple and feasible health
      educational program for parents of primary school children will be proposed, and the efficacy
      of the program will be evaluated.
    

Intervention name(s): Constipation Health Education Intervention Course; General Health Course
Intervention type(s): Behavioral; Behavioral
Intervention description(s): The 4-weeks health education includes three dimensions. The first is "Causes and Hazards of Constipation". The second is "Constipation Symptoms and Criteria". The third is "Constipation Treatment Strategies and Prevention".
Health education leaflets with 3 to 5 test questions in the weekly are distributed once a week, students will bring them back to parents, and parents need to complete the answers and sign after reading them.; General courses about health issues according to the curriculum of each primary school.
Allocation: Non-Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Intervention model description: This is a quasi-experimental design study, which will enroll students in the 3rd to 6th grades of two primary schools and their parents in Yunlin. There will be 200 children in the experimental group and 200 in the control group; with a total of 400 students and their parents. Parents in the experimental group will receive health educational leaflets every week. No intervention will be given to the control group. The 4-weeks intervention is scheduled to be from September to November 2020. Both the experimental and control groups will be asked to fill up a questionnaire at the before and after the intervention. The questionnaire includes the defecation and constipation situation of children, physical activity, dietary behavior, life pressure, and parents' knowledge and attitude toward constipation. Both groups of children have to fill out the Stool diary record sheet once a week, including the intervention period and the follow-up period for a total of 8 weeks.
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary purpose: Health Services Research
Keywords: constipation; Bristol Stool Scale; health educational intervention