Patient Preference for Medical Information in the Emergency Department: Post-Test Survey of a Random Allocation Intervention

Abstract

Introduction: Health literacy can create barriers for ED staff attempting to communicate important information to patients. Video discharge instructions may address some of these barriers by improving patients' comprehension of medical information and addressing health literacy challenges.

Methods: One hundred ninety-six patients diagnosed with either hypertension, asthma, congestive heart failure, or diabetes were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 interventions: watching video medical information followed by reviewing written discharge instructions or written instructions first, followed by video education. After the interventions, patients from both groups completed surveys assessing their preferences for receiving medical information.

Results: We found that 44% (n = 86/196) of ED patients preferred receiving medical information in video format, whereas 18% (n = 35/196) favored the written format, and 38% (n = 75/196) of the sample preferred receiving both formats. Fifty-five percent of men (n = 38/69) preferred the video format, whereas 42% (n = 51/122) of women indicated a preference for both video and written formats. Learning something new from the video was associated with patient preference for receiving medical instructions, (χ2 [1] = 9.39, P = 0.01) and the desire to watch medical videos or read information at home via the Internet (χ2 [1] = 18.46, P < 0.001).

Discussion: The majority of ED patients in this study preferred medical information in video or video plus written formats, compared with written-only format.

Keywords: Discharge instructions; Emergency department; Health literacy; Medical information; Video.