Assessment of Patients' Comprehension of Discharge Instructions and Associated Factors.

Aim of Study: To assess patients' comprehension of discharge instructions and to explore associated factors. Methods: Following a cross-sectional design, 300 patients aged above 14 years, who were admitted to Aseer Central Hospital, and were discharged to home, were included. A questionnaire was designed by researchers for data collection. It consisted of personal data and statements related to assessment of the patients' comprehension of discharge instructions. Results: Most participants were males (68.3%). Age of 26% was <30 years or 30-39 years (27%), while age of less than one-quarter of them (22.3%) was 40-49 years or >50 years (24.7%). Educational level of more than one-third was either secondary school (36.7%) or university education (37.7%), while 6.3% were illiterate. Most participants (85.7%) lived with their families, while 14.3% were living alone. More than half of patients (57%) did not know the side effects of their drugs, 13% of participants did not know about times of their medication intake, duration of treatment (16.7%), when to return to hospital (39.1%), or precautions after discharge (30.1%). About one-third of patients (33.7%) had poor comprehension regarding their discharge instructions, while 37.7% had moderate comprehension and 28.7% had good comprehension. More than three-quarters of patients felt satisfied about their understanding regarding discharge instructions, while 5.7% were not satisfied. About half of patients (47.7%) preferred verbal methods for having discharge instructions, 11.3% preferred written instructions, while 41% preferred both verbal and written methods. Knowledge levels were significantly lower among those aged >50 years (p=0.031). Illiterate patients had signifi- cantly lower comprehension about discharge instructions (p=0.021). Those who live with their families had significantly better knowledge than those who don't live alone (p=0.024). Their comprehension differed signifi- cantly according to their department (p=0.009), with best comprehension among those discharged from the Surgery Department, while the worst comprehension was observed among patients discharged from the Urology and Orthopedics Departments (63.6% and 48.1%, respectively). Conclusions: About one-third of patients have poor comprehension regarding their discharge instructions. Verbal methods for discharge instructions are preferred by about half of patients, while 41% prefer both verbal and written methods. Patients' poor comprehension is significantly associated with patients' illiteracy, older age (>50 years) and social isolation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Weekly Epidemiological Record is the property of World Health Organization and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)