OBJECTIVE To assess the effect of leaflets on promoting informed choice in women using maternity services. DESIGN Cluster trial, with maternity units randomised to use leaflets (intervention units) or offer usual care (control units). Data collected through postal questionnaires. SETTING 13 maternity units in Wales. PARTICIPANTS Four separate samples of women using maternity services. Ant...

To improve the information given to patients before endoscopy an audit was performed in 16 of 18 endoscopy units in Northern region. Details of current endoscopy information leaflets provided by the 16 respondents were discussed by nurses and consultants from the participating units, and a standard, including 12 separate items, was agreed. Each unit was provided with a comparison of its current...

r 'HE congenital cardiac defect known as Ebstein's anomaly has been recognized as a pathologic entity for 90 years.1 The first 80 years of this period constituted a relatively dormant era characterized by sporadic descriptions of the lesion at postmortem examination and by intimation that clinical recognition of this anomaly was not possible.2 Knowledge regarding Ebstein's anomaly has accumulat...

abstract background: effective patient–professional communication can be of crucial importance to long-term psycho-social outcomes in patients with cancer. a cross sectional study was conducted to examine cancer patients' satisfaction with regard to various aspects of communication and information given by nurses. methods: a proportional stratified sampling method was done and data collected vi...

introduction: the objective of the study was to develop an instrument to measure patient education content. materials and methods: first of all, literature searches were undertaken to determine current national and international patient education questionnaires. then a forty five item questionnaire was developed. questionnaires were filled by 399 patients in surgery wards of kerman medical hosp...

Most patients presenting to the emergency department with minor head injuries are discharged with written information. Here the quality of minor head injury discharge leaflets in the Republic of Ireland is evaluated against a nationally accepted template. There was great variability in leaflet content. Most provided minimal information on emergency symptoms but 60% contained no information on p...

BACKGROUND Patient enrolment into clinical trials is based on oral information and informed consent, which includes an information sheet and a consent certificate. The written information should be complete, but at the same time risks being so complex that it may be questioned if a fully informed consent is possible to provide. We explored patient representatives' views and perceptions on the w...