Key result
Adding printed instructions is linked to ~90% lower failure to remember post-anesthetic directives versus verbal alone.
Why the study?
Does providing written instructions in addition to verbal instructions improve recall and compliance with post-anaesthetic instructions in out-patient anaesthesia patients?
Cohort (n=60)
Does providing written instructions in addition to verbal instructions improve recall and compliance with post-anaesthetic instructions in out-patient anaesthesia patients?
Providing written directives in addition to verbal instructions significantly improves patient recall of post-operative instructions following out-patient anaesthesia.
Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
May improve recall of post-anaesthetic instructions; hypothesis-generating and requires randomized confirmation.
Sixty patients who underwent out-patient anaesthesia were assessed by interview the day following surgery to determine the extent to which they remembered and complied with instructions given preoperatively concerning their post-anaesthetic activities such as, drinking, driving, cooking and operating machinery. The first group of thirty patients received verbal instructions only, except for a written instruction not to drive after anaesthesia. The following group of thirty patients received clear, concise printed instructions in addition to their pre-operative verbal instructions. There was a significant improvement between the two groups of patients in the ability to remember their instructions from a range of 77--99% failure rate to 4--12.5% depending on the sphere of activity. However, a certain proportion of patients deliberately ignored the instructions in both groups. It would appear from this study that verbal pre-operative instructions were easily forgotten unless re-inforced with written directives. Patients from ethnic minorities may need printed instructions in their native language and the services of an interpreter.
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A F Malins (1978) conducted a cohort in Out-patient anaesthesia (n=60). Printed instructions vs. Verbal instructions only was evaluated on Failure rate to remember instructions. Providing clear, concise printed instructions in addition to verbal directives significantly reduced the failure rate of remembering post-anaesthetic instructions from 77-99% to 4-12.5%.
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