Use of a Simplified Consent Form to Facilitate Patient Understanding of Informed Consent for Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy

Overview

Journal Open Med (Wars)

Specialty General Medicine

Date 2017 Mar 30

PMID 28352847

Citations 8

Authors

Alessandro Borello

Alessia Ferrarese

Roberto Passera

Alessandra Surace

Silvia Marola

Claudio Buccelli

Massimo Niola

Pierpaolo Di Lorenzo

Maurizio Amato

Lorenza Di Domenico

Mario Solej

Valter Martino

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background: Surgical informed consent forms can be complicated for patients to read and understand. We created a consent form with key information presented in bulleted texts and diagrams combined in a graphical format to facilitate the understanding of information during the verbal consent discussion.

Methods: This prospective, randomized study involved 70 adult patients awaiting cholecystectomy for gallstones. Consent was obtained after standard verbal explanation using either a graphically formatted (study group, n=33) or a standard text document (control group, n=37). Comprehension was evaluated with a 9-item multiple-choice questionnaire administered before surgery and factors affecting comprehension were analyzed.

Results: Comparison of questionnaire scores showed no effect of age, sex, time between consent and surgery, or document format on understanding of informed consent. Educational level was the only predictor of comprehension.

Conclusions: Simplified surgical consent documents meet the goals of health literacy and informed consent. Educational level appears to be a strong predictor of understanding.

Citing Articles

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