Informed consent: are we doing enough?

Area of Science:

• Medical Communication
• Patient Education
• Surgical Safety

Background:

• Effective preoperative patient communication is crucial for informed consent and surgical safety.
• Traditional verbal warnings may have limitations in patient recall and comprehension.
• Standardizing preoperative information delivery is an ongoing challenge in healthcare.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare patient recall of preoperative warnings delivered verbally versus in written format.
• To assess the impact of information modality on patient understanding of surgical risks and instructions.
• To identify optimal methods for preoperative patient education to enhance surgical preparedness.

Main Methods:

• A prospective, randomized study design was employed.
• 132 patients received verbal preoperative warnings, and 137 received written warnings.
• Patient recall of specific warnings and the total number of recalled warnings were assessed.

Main Results:

• Written warnings led to significantly better recall of four out of seven specific preoperative warnings (P < 0.001-0.05).
• Patients receiving written warnings recalled a higher mean number of warnings (fewer than 4) compared to the verbal group (fewer than 3) (P = 0.0057).
• Overall, patients receiving verbal warnings demonstrated poorer recall than those given written information.

Conclusions:

• Written preoperative warnings are more effective than verbal warnings in enhancing patient recall.
• Improved recall of preoperative information suggests patients receiving written warnings are better informed before surgery.
• Healthcare providers should consider utilizing written materials to supplement verbal communication for preoperative patient education to improve surgical preparedness and safety.