INFORMATION DELIVERY: THE PROVISION OF WRITTEN INFORMATION FOR PATIENTS FOLLOWING CORONARY ANGIOGRAPHY AND POST‐DISCHARGE MANAGEMENT

Abstract

SUMMARYTo improve management of risk factors in patients diagnosed with significant coronary artery disease after day case angiography, we gave patients a discharge information sheet emphasising the importance of prognostic therapy, risk factors and follow‐up. The sheet was evaluated in 40 patients. A nurse talked through the information sheet with the patients after their angiogram and helped to complete relevant sections. One group of patients was given a copy of the sheet to take home, while the second group remained a ‘verbal information only’ group. Providing written information resulted in improvements in follow‐up regarding blood pressure and drug therapy checks, but there was no significant difference between the groups in the follow‐up management of cholesterol or in patient awareness of their cholesterol level. Patients were not likely to remember the sheet, even though a nurse had talked them through it, unless it was backed up with a written copy which could be taken away. It became apparent that the vast majority of patients remembered a pictorial representation of the extent of their disease (routinely provided) in contrast to the relatively disappointing numbers (43%) who remembered the information sheet. To evaluate further the importance of content and style in effective information delivery, we are evaluating the combination of written information with a visual representation of the heart.