Preoperative patient education in vascular surgery

Area of Science:

• Vascular Surgery
• Medical Education
• Patient Knowledge Assessment

Background:

• Preoperative patient education is crucial for informed consent and patient preparedness in vascular surgery.
• Existing literature lacks a comprehensive synthesis of the impact of various educational interventions on patient knowledge in this field.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically review and meta-analyze the effectiveness of preoperative patient education interventions on patient knowledge in vascular surgery.
• To identify specific types of interventions and procedures that yield the greatest improvements in patient understanding.

Main Methods:

• A systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted searching Embase, PubMed, and Ovid databases.
• Included studies focused on vascular surgery procedures with patient knowledge as an outcome measure.
• Standardized Mean Difference (SMD) was calculated using pre- and post-intervention knowledge scores, with subgroup analyses for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) repair and decision aids.

Main Results:

• Six studies (654 patients) met the inclusion criteria, encompassing randomized controlled trials and a prospective cohort study.
• The pooled SMD was 0.64 (95% CI, 0.48-0.79), indicating a significant positive effect of education interventions on patient knowledge.
• Subgroup analyses for AAA repair (SMD=0.58) and decision aids (SMD=0.62) also showed significant positive impacts.

Conclusions:

• Preoperative patient education is effective in enhancing patient knowledge regarding vascular surgery procedures.
• Developing procedure-specific and patient-oriented educational interventions is recommended to effectively address knowledge deficits in patients with vascular disease.