Surgical patients' awareness about their diagnosis and management plans in Ethiopia: cross-sectional study

Patient awareness of their diagnosis and management plan is crucial for improving compliance, empowering patients and enhancing outcomes. We aimed to assess surgical patients' awareness of their diagnosis, management plans and associated factors.

A cross-sectional study was conducted from December 2024 to March 2025 on 400 adult surgical inpatients who had undergone surgery in the general surgery, gynaecology and obstetrics, and orthopaedic wards at Debre Tabor Comprehensive Specialized Hospital, Ethiopia. Data were collected using a structured written questionnaire and analysed using the SPSS V.25. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression were used to identify factors associated with patients' awareness of their diagnosis and care plan, with significance determined using adjusted ORs and 95% CIs.

Overall, 52% of respondents had global awareness of their clinical conditions and management plans. Awareness was highest for clinical diagnosis (78.9%), necessity of admission (78.9%) and operations performed (72.0%). However, more than 50% of respondents did not seek information on the diagnosis, possible cause and investigation related to their condition. In multivariable analysis, patients with tertiary education were 7.12 times more likely to have global awareness than those without formal education (adjusted OR, AOR=7.12; 95% CI 1.95 to 25.95), and patients living in urban areas were 3.15 times more likely to have global awareness than those in rural areas (AOR=3.15; 95% CI 1.63 to 6.10; p<0.05).

Awareness of various aspects of healthcare ranged from 35.5% to 78.9%, with about half of respondents demonstrating global awareness of their diagnosis and management plans. Implementing shared decision-making models may improve patients' understanding of their care plans.