ISE to Support Constipation Management

Primary care practices in the Greater Cincinnati region, that are part of the Ohio Valley Pediatric Care Association (OVPCA) will be recruited to take part in the study. It is estimated that approximately 170 providers in 40 practices will take part overall. The study participants will be the PCPs and nurses in their practices.

Prior to the educational intervention (described below), participating PCPs and nurses will be asked to complete Constipation Action Plan (CAP) forms detailing the treatments they prescribed to each patient with constipation symptoms at each new visit and the subsequent follow up visits for constipation. The CAP form will contain a section to describe the patient's symptoms as well as fields to be checked for each treatment the PCP instructed the patient to follow.

Practices will be clustered by size (number of providers) and randomly assigned to 1 of 2 educational interventions (Dissemination or Dissemination +Interactive Spaced Education).

Dissemination will include webinars and e-mail distribution of the Constipation Management Guideline and a slide set containing the evidence-based rationale as well as clinical tips for advanced management of functional constipation. All PCPs will receive the guideline and slide set and be offered an opportunity to ask questions of a gastroenterologist.

Participating PCPs and nurses randomized to the Interactive Spaced Education (ISE) arm will complete an online ISE course assessing their understanding of the constipation guidelines.

Constipation knowledge will be tested via quiz in multiple choice format. Online surveys to assess satisfaction with the educational intervention, likelihood to change practice, ease of participation in the SE course (if applicable) and feedback for ways to improve future educational efforts will be administered at three time-points.