patient education

As cancer incidences rise within the Saudi population, effective pain management remains a critical component of oncological care. Analgesic adherence is vital for managing cancer-related pain, yet it is often inadequately addressed in clinical practice, leading to diminished quality of life of patients.

This study aimed to assess the level of adherence to analgesic medications among Saudi cancer patients and to identify demographic and health-related factors that may influence adherence.

In a cross-sectional study at King Abdulaziz Medical City, 132 oncology patients were sampled randomly. Data were collected through an online survey incorporating demographic queries and the Morisky Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS-8). SPSS 26 facilitated the statistical analysis, with descriptive statistics and Spearman’s Rho tests determining the significance of the findings.

Among participants, 52.2% were married, 51.5% were unemployed, and 80.4% reported substantial social support. Health insurance was prevalent among 79.5% of patients. Low adherence was observed in 94.6% of patients, with only 0.8% showing high adherence. The primary reasons for non-adherence included forgetting (54.5%) and fear of side effects (38.6%). Age and the number of medications were significantly correlated with adherence levels, highlighting the multifactorial nature of medication adherence in this patient population.

The research highlights a concerning level of low adherence to analgesics among Saudi oncology patients, suggesting an urgent need for targeted interventions. Strategies to improve adherence should focus on education regarding the importance of pain management and addressing patients' concerns about medication side effects and dependency, as well as personalized medication management plans to accommodate the complexities of handling multiple medications. These findings are instrumental for oncology healthcare providers to optimize pain management strategies and enhance patient outcomes.

Teaching patients is one of the essential duties of radiographers. Proper implementation of patient education leads to improved efficiency of medical imaging processes, faster patient recovery, reduced costs and anxiety, and ultimately, greater patient satisfaction. Understanding barriers to patient education is crucial for managing these factors effectively.

This cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted on 548 radiographers employed in hospitals in western Iran. Participants were selected using a convenience sampling method and provided informed consent to identify barriers to patient education in medical imaging from the radiographers' perspective. Data were collected using an online questionnaire addressing obstacles to patient education, which had confirmed validity and reliability (ɑ = 0.78). Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS software version 22, with P < 0.05 considered statistically significant.

Among the participants, 77.2% held a bachelor's degree. The most significant barriers to patient education in medical imaging from the radiographers' perspective included a large number of patients (56.4%), lack of time (48.9%), insufficient hospital facilities (42.9%), shortage of manpower (41.8%), unfavorable physical and mental condition of patients (40.7%), and lack of responsibility among radiographers (33%).

The barriers to patient education can be addressed by reducing radiographers' workload, enhancing their training skills, and equipping medical imaging centers with patient education facilities. Implementing these measures would improve the efficiency of imaging centers and promote better patient outcomes.

Artificial intelligence (AI), particularly large language models like ChatGPT developed by OpenAI, has demonstrated potential in various domains, including medicine. While ChatGPT has shown the capability to pass rigorous exams like the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) Step 1, its proficiency in addressing breast cancer-related inquiries—a complex and prevalent disease—remains underexplored. This study aims to assess the accuracy and comprehensiveness of ChatGPT’s responses to common breast cancer questions, addressing a critical gap in the literature and evaluating its potential in enhancing patient education and support in breast cancer management.

A curated list of 100 frequently asked breast cancer questions was compiled from Cancer.net, the National Breast Cancer Foundation, and clinical practice. These questions were input into ChatGPT, and the responses were evaluated for accuracy by two primary experts using a four-point scale. Discrepancies in scoring were resolved through additional expert review.

Of the 100 responses, 5 were entirely inaccurate, 22 partially accurate, 42 accurate but lacking comprehensiveness, and 31 highly accurate. The majority of the responses were found to be at least partially accurate, demonstrating ChatGPT’s potential in providing reliable information on breast cancer.

ChatGPT shows promise as a supplementary tool for patient education on breast cancer. While generally accurate, the presence of inaccuracies underscores the need for professional oversight. The study advocates for integrating AI tools like ChatGPT in healthcare settings to support patient-provider interactions and health education, emphasizing the importance of regular updates to reflect the latest research and clinical guidelines.

Discharge training is essential for accelerating patients’ recovery process and managing complications in the postoperative period. This study aims to determine surgical patients’ satisfaction with discharge training given and related factors.  

This descriptive study was conducted with 294 patients who underwent surgical intervention in a public hospital in Istanbul, Turkey, between May 2022 and November 2022. The data were collected with the Patient Information Form and the Patient Satisfaction Scale Specific to Surgical Patients. Data were evaluated with the t-test, ANOVA and post hoc (Tukey, LSD) analyses.  

Patients’ mean age was 53.130±15.125 years; 52.4% were female and 89.1% were married. They all received face to face discharge training, and 74.5% received education from doctors and nurses. Their Satisfaction with Discharge Training total mean score was 89.23±15.91. Statistically significant differences were found between some sub-dimension scores according to age, marital status, chronic disease, and preferred discharge training method. A significant difference was found between the total and all sub-dimension scores of scales according to the person giving the discharge training.  

Surgical patients had a high level of satisfaction with discharge training. All patients received face to face discharge training and requested written and video-assisted training. For discharge training, a unique training program can be developed for the elderly, single people, and those with chronic conditions, considering the individual characteristics of the patients. The research will have an impact on patients operating in surgical clinics and on nurses and doctors who provide training.

Medicine is prescribed to help the patient. But it can cause unwanted effects in the patient if one take too much or multiple medicines that don’t go together. Many patients have problems each year, some serious, because of taking the wrong medicine or not taking the right medicines correctly. This cross-sectional study was done to assess the effectiveness of patient medication counseling in a tertiary care hospital. 

This cross-sectional questionnaire-guided study was carried out in the dispensary of a tertiary care hospital, from January to April 2024. convenient sampling technique was employed to select study participants. 

A total of 540 respondents were included in this study. Only 50.3% of the participants knew the correct frequency and dose of the prescribed medications. Majority of the patients did not knew the indications of the medication they were taking. 

There is a need to strengthen the patient medication counselling process so that patients understand & remember what have been advised during counselling. As a healthcare provider, it is our responsibility to educate the patient about the prescribed medicines to obtain the positive healthcare and ensure safe use of medicines.

In recent years, the complexity and diversity of health-related factors, changing disease patterns incommunities, the impact of socio-economic factors on health, and the multifaceted challenges ofhealth systems have increased the participation of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in healthactivities and programs.

Patient education (PE) is a fundamental patient right and an essential tool for improving health outcomes and enhancing patient satisfaction. However, barriers to effective PE exist, and understanding these obstacles is crucial for addressing them.

This study aimed to conduct a systematic review of the barriers to PE in Iran.

A systematic review was conducted to analyze published articles on the barriers to PE in Iran, available in both English and Persian. The search was performed across multiple databases, including PubMed, Science Direct, and ProQuest, and academic search engine of Google Scholar, and Iranian databases such as MagIran, SID, IranDoc, and IranMedex, covering the period from January 1, 2000, to January 1, 2022. Specific keywords such as "barrier", "education", "learning", "client", "Iran" and "patient" were employed, resulting in a total of 185 articles related to the topic. Ultimately, 47 studies were included in the review.

The review encompassed 47 studies, comprising 32 descriptive, 9 qualitative, 3 intervention, and 3 review studies. The findings identified five categories of barriers: environmental barriers, nurse-related barriers, patient-related barriers, managerial barriers, and educational barriers removal.

Educating patients presents challenges due to various barriers. To address these obstacles, it is imperative for managers to support nurses by providing necessary resources, adequate funding, dedicated nursing personnel, suitable infrastructure, and training in innovative teaching techniques.

The integration of artificial intelligence (AI), particularly generative large language (LLM) models like ChatGPT, promises to enhance patient education and communication in many fields, including facial plastic surgery.

We herein assess patient perceptions of AI-generated versus human surgeon preoperative and postoperative counseling for septorhinoplasty surgery.

Responses to hypothetical questions by ChatGPT and a human surgeon were evaluated by 103 blind evaluators from a general audience to assess empathy, accuracy, completeness, and overall quality. Evaluators were also asked to quantify their prior usage of AI LLMs and rate their confidence in discerning the AI and human responses.

ChatGPT's responses were generally preferred, receiving significantly higher scores in accuracy (p<0.001), completeness (p<0.001), and overall quality (p<0.001). ChatGPT scored lower in empathy, but the difference was not significant (p=0.11). No significant differences were found in evaluators' trust in AI or their ability to discern between human and AI responses based on past AI LLM usage (p=0.43; p=0.25)..

AI, specifically ChatGPT, can supplement traditional patient education and communication methods in facial plastic surgery. Further research is necessary to understand the broader implications and optimal integration of AI in clinical practice.

The rapid advent of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) in the healthcare sector offers new horizons for patient education and has the potential to redefine patient-provider interactions. Our research aimed to gauge the efficacy of ChatGPT-4 in delivering accurate, current, and safe medical guidance on breast reconstruction, and benchmark its responses against other established patient information channels.

We presented ChatGPT-4 with six frequently posed questions about breast reconstruction. The model's replies were critically assessed by a committee of experienced plastic and reconstructive surgeons. To ensure the precision of the information, its responses were further cross-referenced against two major medical databases.

The results revealed that ChatGPT-4 produced well-articulated, factually sound, and holistic answers to the presented inquiries. However, the platform showed constraints in offering tailored guidance and occasionally cited outdated or irrelevant references. Notably, the system consistently advocated for professional consultation for nuanced information.

ChatGPT-4 has emerged as a potential supplementary resource in patient education concerning breast reconstruction. Nevertheless, to harness its full potential and ensure its seamless integration into healthcare, further refinements and advancements in AI tools are paramount. The study underscores the importance of continuous evaluation and enhancement for AI solutions in the evolving landscape of patient education.

A local clinic-based chronic disease management intervention including care planning, education about disease management, monitoring, and evaluation of the achievement of objects was introduced in Korea in 2019. We evaluated the effect of the intervention on medication adherence in patients with hypertension and diabetes.

In 2019, a one-year retrospective case-control group study design was performed using data from the National Health Insurance Service in Korea. Propensity score matching was used to control for selection bias. Medication adherence, calculated by medication possession rate, was the dependent variable. We conducted multivariate logistic regression analyses to examine the association between participation in the intervention and medication adherence, adjusting for covariates. A control group was set as a reference for participation in the full/partial component intervention.

The proportions of participants in the full component intervention in the experimental group were 43.2% and 42.6% for patients with hypertension or diabetes, respectively. Both these groups tended to be more medication adherent than their counterparts (hypertension OR: 1.23, 95% CI 1.03-1.45, diabetes OR: 1.64, 95% CI: 1.24-2.17).

Institutionalizing a comprehensive chronic disease management program using multidisciplinary teams in the primary care context is crucial. Also, it is necessary to refine reimbursement payment systems.

Hypertension is a risk factor for heart and blood vessel diseases, so it is crucial to teach patients how to control their hypertension and follow up on the training implementation. Accordingly, the present study aims to examine the effect of training according to the American Heart Association (AHA) and the American College of Cardiology (ACC) clinical practice guideline, with and without follow-up through telenursing on stage 1 hypertension among older adult patients with stable angina pectoris.

This is quasi-experimental research conducted in 2021 with a pre-test and post-test design and a control group. The study subjects were 59 patients with stage I hypertension suffering from stable angina pectoris who were referred to Ahmadieh Heart Clinic affiliated with Torbat Heydarieh University of Medical Sciences, Torbat Heydarieh City, Iran. The participants were recruited by targeted sampling and were assigned into intervention (n=30) and control (n=29) groups using the balanced block randomization. Both groups underwent lifestyle modification training based on ACC/AHA clinical practice guideline. In the experimental group, follow-up was done through telenursing once a week for three months, and the control group followed the clinic’s standard services. The data were gathered using a demographic set of questions and an aneroid sphygmomanometer. The obtained data were analyzed using the t-test, chi-square test, Mann-Whitney test, Wilcoxon test, and Fisher exact test in SPSS software, version 20. The significance level was set at P<0.05.

Compared to before the intervention, systolic blood pressure (P=0.009) and diastolic blood pressure (P=0.019) of the experimental group decreased significantly after the intervention. However, no significant difference was seen in the average pulse pressure (P=0.125) of the intervention group after the intervention. After the intervention, the systolic (P=0.001) and diastolic (P=0.002) blood pressure, as well as pulse pressure (P=0.006) of the intervention group, decreased significantly compared to the control group.

Telenursing is suggested as an efficient method of controlling and managing hypertension in older adults with stable angina pectoris.

Patients' education is a key factor in patients' care. The purpose of this study is to design a protocol for a convergent parallel mixed methods study to explore the experiences of patients about their received educations based on andragogy model.

This convergent parallel mixed method study includes two parallel quantitative and qualitative phases. During the quantitative phase, a cross-sectional survey will be conducted on 350 adult patients who had the history of hospitalization and received patient education from selected hospitals of Tehran, Iran. Sampling method will be random, and data collection tool will be a researcher-made questionnaire based on the principles of andragogy. The questionnaire’s validity and reliability are also measured, and data will be analyzed using SPSS 16. The qualitative phase will be conducted on adult patients who will be recruited purposively with maximum variation from the selected hospitals. Data will be gathered through semi-structured interviews and analyzed by directed content analysis. With regard to mixed method and using aligning convergence method, the results of the two sets of data will be compared or merged to see if the findings confirm or disconfirm each other. In this parallel section, the similarities between quantitative and qualitative results for assessing patient education are discussed and adapted to suit each other based on andragogy.

The findings of this study will provide information regarding defects in patient education, suggesting that the principles of andragogy will develop patient education programs.

Proper self-care practices play a crucial role in the well being and longevity of patientswith cardiovascular disease. To effectively engage in self-care, it is imperative for patients to receiveadequate education and training on the self-care process. This study was conducted to determine theeffect of family-oriented education (FOE) on the self-care behaviors of patients with acute myocardialinfarction (AMI). In this randomized clinical trial study, 70 patients hospitalized in two hospitals in Shirazduring November 2021-April 2022 participated after the first AMI. Patients were randomly assignedinto control (N=35) and intervention groups (N=35) based on random allocation. In the interventiongroup, an educational program was conducted for patients and active family members during threesessions of 45 to 60 minutes. The control group received routine care. Demographic information formand Self-Care Agency scale was completed by the patients before the educational intervention, onemonth, and two months after the educational intervention. Data analysis was done through SPSS 22using Chi-square test, independent t-test, Fisher’s exact, and Friedman test. P˂0.05 was considered asthe statistical significance level. There was no significant difference in self-care behaviors between the two groups before theintervention (P=0.71). The mean score of self-care behaviors in patients one month (P<0.001) and twomonths (P<0.001) after FOE in the intervention group showed a statistically significant difference withthe control group. Also, the mean score of self-care behaviors two months after the education in theintervention group was significantly higher than before and one month after the intervention (P<0.001). Given the positive effect of FOE on self-care behaviors of patients with AMI, it isrecommended that educational interventions related to the treatment plan of these patients with theparticipation of families should be conducted.Trial Registration Number: IRCT20211116053078N1