Digital informed consent for paediatric spinal surgery: a patient-centric evaluation of eConsent utilization

Area of Science:

• Surgical Innovation
• Digital Health
• Patient Experience

Background:

• Informed consent is crucial in surgical care, ensuring patient understanding of procedures.
• Electronic consent (eConsent) offers a digital alternative to traditional paper-based consent forms.
• This study focuses on patient experiences with eConsent for paediatric scoliosis surgery.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate patient experiences with electronic consent (eConsent) in paediatric scoliosis surgery.
• To compare patient preferences between eConsent and traditional paper-based consent.
• To assess satisfaction, ease of use, and information adequacy of the eConsent process.

Main Methods:

• Prospective review of 46 patient responses to eConsent surveys.
• Data collection included recommendation likelihood, process ease (0-10), preferred consent method, information adequacy (yes/no), and overall satisfaction (1-10).
• Descriptive statistical analysis was performed.

Main Results:

• 97.8% of patients preferred eConsent over paper-based consent.
• The average overall satisfaction rating was 9.0/10, with a low average difficulty rating of 0.76/10.
• 97.8% of patients found the information provided adequate, and most would recommend eConsent.

Conclusions:

• eConsent is well-received and accessible for paediatric spinal surgery patients, showing high satisfaction and ease of use.
• While information adequacy is high, further investigation is needed to understand the nuances of recommendation ratings.
• Future research should focus on optimizing digital consent workflows and addressing adoption barriers.