Guidance of WeChat Applet for Hospitalization Improve Satisfaction and Shorten Preoperative Preparation Time for Advanced Gastric Cancer Patients: A Randomized Clinical Trial (Preprint)

<sec> <title>BACKGROUND</title> The improvement of patient experiences formulates essential for medical service enhancement. Our previous practices have revealed that the utility of the comprehensive hospitalization guidance via WeChat Applet improve satisfaction and shorten preoperative preparation time for advanced gastric cancer(AGC) patients. However, its efficiency have not yet been verified by randomised trial. </sec> <sec> <title>OBJECTIVE</title> Thus, we conducted this open-label, randomized clinical superiority trial to compare the satisfaction and preoperative preparation efficiency of WeChat Applet gaidance and traditional verbal notification for hospitalization for AGC patients. </sec> <sec> <title>METHODS</title> This was a superiority, open-label, randomized clinical trial. A total of 152 eligible patients with clinical AGC were enrolled from January 2024 to December 2024. Participants were randomized in a 1:1 ratio after stratification by simple randomization to hospitalization guidance via either WeChat Applet (experimental group, n=76) or traditional verbal notification(control group, n=76). The satisfaction and preoperative preparation efficiency were compared between two groups. </sec> <sec> <title>RESULTS</title> The level of anxiety among caregivers handling the admission procedures demonstrated a marked decrease by WeChat Applet of guidance for hospitalization [pre-guidance 5.1±3.5 vs. post-guidance 2.7±2.7, exhibiting a pair difference of 2.368 (95% CI: 1.684 to 3.053), t=6.889, P&lt;0.001]. There was no difference in the anxiety level of caregivers involved in the admission procedure prior to the guidance between the experimental group and the control group [5.1±3.5 vs 4.9±3.0, t=0.398, P=0.691], however, there was a significant difference after guidancing, with the anxiety level in experimental group notably lower than that in control group [2.7±2.7 vs. 4.2±2.9, t=3.254, P=0.001]. The experimental group consistently scored lower on the hospital registration difficulty scale compared to the control group (Z=4.272, P&lt;0.001). The completeness score of the prepared materials upon admission was significantly higher in the experimental group (Z = 6.861, P &lt; 0.001). The experimental group was more likely to express satisfaction with the hospitalization registration process than the control group (Z=8.307, P&lt;0.001). The duration of the preoperative waiting workdays after hospitalization in the experimental group was noticeably reduced compared to the control group [4.3±1.4 vs. 5.2±2.3, t=2.954, P=0.004]; Similarly, the preoperative waiting days after hospitalization [6.4±3.2 vs. 6.4±2.0, t=2.208, P=0.029] in the experimental group were markedly less than those in the control group. </sec> <sec> <title>CONCLUSIONS</title> The comprehensive hospitalization guidance via WeChat Applet improve satisfaction and shorten preoperative preparation time for AGC patients. This model is worth learning and promoting in more surgical diseases. </sec> <sec> <title>CLINICALTRIAL</title> www.medicalresearch.org.cn:MR-44-24-009862 </sec>