The effect of providing patient information in an endoscopy setting.

Abstract

Hospitals encounter many complaints from patients that little or no information is given. Numerous appointments are lost due to patients not attending or not being well prepared, such as not being fasted or no bowel preparation being given. The purpose of this research study was to evaluate if there is the need to provide a service, were patients prior to admission and discharge could attend to have the relevant information regarding their procedure. It was also carried out to evaluate patient satisfaction with the provision of care at the Endoscopy Unit. A randomised control trial was carried out on 156 patients attending the Endoscopy Unit over a three-month period. Patients were randomly assigned to the control group (leaflet information) and the cases group, using permuted blocks of four. The response rate resulted with 103 participants, divided into 48 as cases and 47 as controls. The data collection tool chosen for this study was that of questionnaires, which contained both closed ended questions using a Iikert scale from 0 to 4, and open ended questions. The questionnaires were mailed to all participants with a self-addressed envelop. Descriptive and quantitative statistical analysis was carried out to measure patient satisfaction with aspects of service provided and pre and post procedure information. To determine significance of difference between the

two groups, the statistical tests used in this study were the student's t-test and chi-square. Results showed that there was no significant difference between pre-procedure verbal information and leaflet information with P = 0.363. Results also showed that there was no significant difference between post procedure verbal information and leaflet information with P = 1.000. Testing for significance of satisfaction score of overall satisfaction, results showed that there was no significant difference in Gender (P = 0.745), Appointments (P = 0.958), Dissemination of information (P = 0.330). There was a significant difference in Age Group (P = 0.032), and a borderline significant difference in Procedure (P = 0.088). Results from this study suggest that pre procedural information may help to increase the quality of the examination and of the service provided with regards to quality. Pre procedural information is a cost-effective intervention in enhancing patient cooperation and patient satisfaction for patients undergoing endoscopic procedures.