Patients' informational needs and information received do not correspond in hospital.
OBJECTIVE
This study describes and compares the information patients want with the information they receive and examines whether this varies between patients.


BACKGROUND
Patient information during hospitalization has received increasing attention. Previous studies, however, have identified problems of inadequate or insufficient information from a patient's point of view.


METHODS
Descriptive, survey design with questionnaires.


METHODS
The categorical data were collected by specifically designed questionnaires from adult patients (n = 928) on discharge from one Finnish hospital. The data were analysed statistically using descriptive statistics and non-parametric tests (Mann-Whitney U, Kruskal-Wallis, McNemar and Wilcoxon Signed Ranks tests).


RESULTS
Patients attached great importance to information on illness and treatment, and information in this area was provided quite satisfactorily. Less importance was attached to information regarding patient's daily management of illness, such as aftercare, prognosis and patients' rights and less information was reportedly provided. Female gender was systematically associated with attaching greater importance to information and to better evaluations of informational areas.


CONCLUSIONS
Patients informational needs and the information received from staff did not correspond. The findings confirm the importance of nurses' roles in assessing patients' informational needs to tailor and provide explicit and relevant information to satisfy patients' informational needs.


CONCLUSIONS
More emphasis should be put on developing methods to ascertain patients' informational needs, to evaluate the content of information and to develop tailored information packages for different patients. This can be done by empowering and helping patients to access and understand relevant and appropriate information, for example, by Web-based information systems.
Suhonen
Riitta
R
Health Care District of Forssa, Forssa, Finland. suhonen.riitta@kolumbus.fi
Nenonen
Heljä
H
Laukka
Arja
A
Välimäki
Maritta
M
D022126:Access to Information; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006739:Hospital Administration; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010361:Patients; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires