Video discharge instructions increase patient understanding for office-based procedures: a randomized controlled study.

BACKGROUND

Health literacy significantly influences healthcare outcomes, with poor literacy leading to worse quality of life, increased mortality, and higher readmission rates. Recent efforts to improve post-encounter education include structured teach-back methods, patient preference assessments, and standardized discharge instructions. Studies in emergency departments have shown that incorporating video discharge instructions enhances patient understanding and retention of care information. To address the gap in urology, this study aims to evaluate patient comprehension and satisfaction with video discharge instructions following clinic-based vasectomy procedures.

METHODS

We performed an Institutional Review Board approved (#H-51614) unblinded randomized controlled study with written consent from each participant. All men undergoing vasectomy from August to September 2022 in our outpatient clinic were included in our study. Patients were randomized to receive either video or written discharge instructions. A standardized questionnaire was administered containing objective comprehension questions regarding the discharge instructions they received. Patients were also queried on their preference of discharge instruction format and subjective Likert-scale of information usefulness and format understandability.

RESULTS

Each cohort contained 11 men. There was no difference in age or educational level between the groups (P=0.91, 0.38, respectively). The video cohort exhibited increased comprehension scores (P<0.001). There was no difference between cohorts in ratings of information helpfulness and instruction understandability (P=0.48, 0.06, respectively). Approximately 73% of men in the video group preferred to receive both video and written instructions while 73% patients in the written cohort preferred to receive only written instructions (P<0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

Use of video discharge instructions significantly improved objective comprehension with similar perceptions of information helpfulness and understandability. Patients who received video discharge instructions were more likely to prefer receiving both written and video instructions than those who received written instructions. Overall, these findings support the utility of video discharge instructions in a urologic setting.