When educated with materials that engage multiple senses (sight, hearing and touch), patients display an improved understanding of their care and possible outcomes of treatment, according to a new study published in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery.
Researchers placed 67 patients who were newly diagnosed with knee arthritis and agreed to a corticosteroid injection into three learning cohorts: verbal, where the patient listened to information explaining their treatment; verbal and video, where the patient listened to recorded information while watching a silent animated knee anatomy video; and verbal and model, where patients listened to the recorded information while touching and examining the treatment areas on a three dimensional model of the knee.
When assessed for treatment comprehension, the verbal and model group scored 84 percent, the verbal and video group scored 74 percent and the verbal only group scored 71 percent. The overall rate of patient satisfaction for the study was 95 percent.
"Research has shown that improving patient comprehension of an informed consent discussion may enhance patient engagement and patient compliance with surgeon recommendations," said lead study author Nkemakolam Egekeze, MD, of the departments of orthopaedic surgery and biomedical and health informatics at the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine. "We believe that our findings may play a role in improving patient-centered outcomes and physician-patient communication in the field of orthopedic surgery."
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