Recall of risks following labor epidural analgesia.

STUDY OBJECTIVE

To ascertain patients' recall of the risks of labor epidural analgesia from a discussion of informed consent during active labor.

DESIGN

Survey analysis following an intervention.

SETTING

Labor and delivery unit of a tertiary-care teaching hospital.

PATIENTS

101 ASA physical status I and II parturients in active labor.

INTERVENTIONS

Patients were given a standardized discussion of the risks of labor epidural analgesia.

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS

Within 24 hours of the informed consent discussion, patients were first asked to recall risks, and then asked to identify risks from a true and false list. Patients recalled 2.0 +/- 1.3 risks (mean +/- SD), with 12% recalling at least four risks, 37% recalling at least three risks, 66% recalling at least two risks, and 87% recalling at least one risk. There was no difference in level of recall between primiparas and multiparas, or in patients with mild and moderate pain scores versus those patients with severe pain scores.

CONCLUSIONS

Recall of risks by parturients is similar to the recall of risks by other patients, and it does not appear to be affected by parity or the reported level of pain.