title: Prospective evaluation of patient satisfaction after the use of brachytherapy specific educational materials for cervical cancer.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Cervical cancer patients are faced with an enormous amount of medical information in a complex oncology field with sophisticated treatments including brachytherapy. We investigated the use of enhanced vs. standard brachytherapy-specific educational materials on patient-reported satisfaction during the informed consent process for intracavitary high-dose-rate brachytherapy.
  
  
  METHODS
  A single-institution, prospective, randomized trial was performed to study patient-reported satisfaction with novel educational materials for high-dose-rate brachytherapy in women undergoing definitive radiation for cervical cancer.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Fourteen women receiving informed consent with a customized educational booklet were randomized between no further intervention and take-home educational materials. The weighted average for 10 of 11 survey questions was higher in the intervention arm but ranged between 4 (agree) and 5 (strongly agree) for all questions in both arms. The mean weighted patient satisfaction scores ± standard deviations in the control arm and the intervention arms were 54.3 ± 6.4 and 57.5 ± 2.7, respectively (p = 0.26).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Knowledge acquisition is presumed to be part of the coping process for women facing increased stress during a cancer diagnosis. A brachytherapy-specific, visual, patient-educational booklet and take-home materials used to supplement the informed consent process for high-dose-rate brachytherapy resulted in high levels of patient-reported satisfaction among women treated with cervical cancer.
authors.affiliation: Mercy Cancer Center Radiation Oncology, Dignity Health Network, Sacramento, CA.
authors.forename: Dominique
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rash
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, University California Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center, Sacramento, CA.
authors.forename: Clayton
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hess
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, University California Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center, Sacramento, CA.
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lentz
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, University California Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center, Sacramento, CA.
authors.forename: Lauren
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tait
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, University California Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center, Sacramento, CA.
authors.forename: Anthony
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Michaud
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, University California Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center, Sacramento, CA. Electronic address: jmayadev@ucdavis.edu.
authors.forename: Jyoti
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mayadev
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001918:Brachytherapy / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000379:methods*; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011879:Radiotherapy Dosage; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000532:radiotherapy*
keywords: Brachytherapy; Cervical cancer; Patient education