Educational Video Addition to the Bariatric Surgery Informed Consent Process: a Randomized Controlled Trial

Area of Science:

• Surgical Education
• Patient Comprehension
• Informed Consent

Background:

• Bariatric surgery involves significant risks and requires lifelong patient adherence.
• Standard verbal and written informed consent may not fully convey preoperative risks due to patient focus on weight loss.
• Ensuring complete patient understanding of bariatric surgery implications is critical.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the effectiveness of preoperative informational videos in enhancing bariatric surgery candidates' comprehension of informed consent.
• To determine if video-assisted informed consent improves patient knowledge of surgical risks and postoperative requirements.

Main Methods:

• Randomized controlled trial with 74 bariatric surgery candidates.
• Intervention group received standard informed consent plus a video presentation.
• Control group received only standard verbal-written informed consent.
• Knowledge assessment via questionnaire post-consent process.

Main Results:

• The video-assisted informed consent group achieved significantly higher scores on the knowledge questionnaire (11.3 vs. 9.4, p=0.001).
• Healthcare workers and university graduates showed improved comprehension in the video group.
• Video-assisted informing was the sole independent predictor of higher questionnaire scores (p=0.0001).

Conclusions:

• Video-assisted informed consent is an effective tool for improving patient understanding prior to bariatric surgery.
• Routine implementation of preoperative videos alongside traditional methods is recommended for bariatric surgery candidates.
• Enhanced comprehension through video aids can lead to better patient engagement and compliance.