ANZ journal of surgery
-
ANZ journal of surgery · Mar 2011
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative StudyMultimedia patient education to assist the informed consent process for knee arthroscopy.
In contemporary clinical practice, the ability for orthopaedic surgeons to obtain true 'informed consent' is becoming increasingly difficult. This problem has been driven by factors including increased expectations of surgical outcome by patients and increasing complexity of surgical procedures. Surgical pamphlets and computer presentations have been advocated as ways of improving patient education, but evidence of their efficacy is limited. The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy of a computer-based multimedia (MM) presentation against standardized verbal consent and information pamphlets for patients considering knee arthroscopy surgery. ⋯ MM is an effective tool for aiding in the provision and retention of information during the informed consent process.