Patients' recall of clinical information following laparoscopy for acute abdominal pain

Abstract

Abstract Background Failures in doctor–patient communication and patients' understanding continue to confound improvements in the delivery of quality healthcare. In the context of acute abdominal pain managed by means of laparoscopy, it was hypothesized that patients are either not adequately informed, or do not reliably retain simple relevant information transmitted at the time of the procedure. This study was designed to evaluate the reliability of information transfer between doctor and patient in this setting, including the diagnosis and whether or not the appendix was removed. Methods A retrospective study of 350 consecutive patients who had undergone laparoscopy for acute abdominal pain over 3·5 years was designed. Each patient completed a telephone questionnaire that was used to evaluate the accuracy of patients' information. Results In total, 26·9 per cent of patients did not know or were incorrect regarding the surgical procedure performed. Similarly, 20·0 per cent of all patients did not know or were incorrect regarding the status of their appendix after surgery and 30·0 per cent of patients were incorrect regarding the diagnosis. Despite all of these statistics, 91·4 per cent of patients were happy with the information they had received regarding the procedure. Conclusion Some 26·9 per cent of patients who underwent laparoscopy for acute abdominal pain were incorrect or did not know about the procedure that had been performed. This could lead to a further unnecessary operation should they re-present with similar symptoms.