title: Timing of preoperative patient teaching.
abstract: With the increasing cost of health care and the growing constraints made by third party payers, in-hospital time for preoperative teaching is quickly being reduced. Seventy-two patients attended preoperative instruction either as an inpatient the day before surgery or as an outpatient 4-8 days before surgery. Anxiety and knowledge levels were measured before and after class and the evening before surgery. No differences were found between the groups on a measure of anxiety levels. Both groups demonstrated a moderate anxiety level with no significant change over the testing period. Using the knowledge pretest as a covariate, repeated measures analysis of variance suggested the knowledge gained with the class was significantly greater for the outpatient group than the inpatient group (P = 0.018). There was also a significant positive relationship between the knowledge score and knowing someone who had cardiac surgery (t = 2.34, d.f. = 66, P = 0.022). The results suggest that it makes little difference whether patients receive information up to a week before surgery or just the day before; therefore, the more economical preadmission teaching may be the path of choice.
authors.affiliation: Harper Hospital, Detroit.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lepczyk
authors.forename: E H
authors.initials: EH
authors.lastname: Raleigh
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rowley
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001026:Coronary Artery Bypass / Q000451:nursing* / Q000523:psychology; D004521:Educational Measurement; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards*; D011300:Preoperative Care; D015397:Program Evaluation; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors