Educating patients after conscious sedation for gastrointestinal procedures

Medication for conscious sedation during gastrointestinal (GI) diagnostic procedures causes amnesia, thereby preventing patients from recalling postprocedure instructions or follow-up appointments. A serious complication after GI diagnostic procedures is bleeding, which can occur if patients take aspirin or nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agents after the procedure. Past research revealed that 73% of patients did not remember instructions. The purpose of this randomized controlled trial was: (1) to determine if patients with wrist bands remember to read their postprocedure instructions, and (2) to determine what patient demographics are associated with failure to read postprocedure instructions. Sixty-one GI clinic outpatients participated in this Veterans Affairs Medical Center study, received routine written instructions before and after GI diagnostic procedures, and were randomly assigned to one of two groups: control group (standard care plus next-day phone call) or intervention group (wrist band plus standard care plus next-day phone call). A memory test evaluated patients' knowledge of procedure results, date of follow-up appointment, and medications. Results indicated no significant differences in the memory test between the groups (t = 0.9, p = .36). Patients 65 years of age and older had scores indicating memory problems, regardless of the wrist band (r = 0.19, p = .06). The wrist band was ineffective as a reminder to read instructions; rather, the next-day phone call served as the reminder.