[How well aware of their risk profile are patients with peripheral occlusive arterial disease?]

Abstract

Today, the majority of physicians no longer consider the well-informed patient to be something of a headache--rather, they welcome him as a partner in the management of his disease. The reason for this is that the more he knows about his illness, the more reliably will he comply with the physician's proposed treatment, the more readily he will be- come aware of side effects, and will thus actively contribute to his recovery. With the aid of easy-to-complete questionnaires, the state of knowledge of POAD patients about their disease was determined. The information thus gained may be considered the basis for an individual physician/patient talk.