Graphic narrative based informed consent for bronchoscopy improves satisfaction in patients after lung-transplantation: A randomized controlled trial

Alternative Means of Informed Consent in Cardiology: Strategies and Effectiveness in a Group of Italian Patients

Informed consent practices in healthcare represent a fundamental element of patient-centred care; however, the traditional use of a written, paper-based description of the medical procedure to obtain informed consent presents many limitations. This research aimed to evaluate the effects of an alternative modality of obtaining informed consent using a brief informative video for patients waiting to undergo a coronary angiography procedure in Italy. The study involved 40 participants-28 males and 12 females (mean age: 68.55, SD = 13.03)-divided equally into two groups: one group received the video-based informed consent and the other received a traditional paper-based form. Each group was asked to fill in two questionnaires; one was created by the researchers to measure the patient's level of understanding of the given information and the perception of usefulness of the informed consent, and the other was the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales-21 (DASS-21), which evaluates levels of anxiety, depression and stress. A comparison of the results of the two groups showed that video-based informed consent allowed participants to better understand the given information, to feel more confident concerning their subjective comprehension of it and to perceive the video-based informed consent as more useful than the traditional one. The video-based informed consent did not lead to higher levels of anxiety, depression or stress among the participants. It can be hypothesized that video-based formats may represent a more useful, understandable and safe alternative to traditional paper-based informed consent in healthcare.

Assessing the Degree of Satisfaction, Duration, and Level of Cooperativeness among Patients Undergoing Flexible Bronchoscopy

Background: Bronchoscopy is an invasive procedure that has been used for a long time for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. Objective: To assess the degree of satisfaction, duration, and level of cooperativeness among patients undergoing flexible fiberoptic bronchoscopy. Methods: The A quasi-experimental study was carried out on 128 flexible bronchoscopy patients that were equally divided into control and study groups. The program was applied only to the study group, and all procedure steps were discussed with patients by video records. The anxiety level score, patient satisfaction, and duration of the procedure were assessed in both groups. Results: The highest age range of patients was 61-90 years, with 38 patients from the study group (59.4%) and 44 from the control group (68.8%). Also, in both groups, most patients were illiterate, non-smokers, from nonduty areas, not city center residents, and had more than one associated comorbidity. The hospital anxiety scale was highly significant in the study group (p=0.0001), and the patient's satisfaction rate in the same group was significant (p=0.001). The procedure duration was significantly shorter in the study group (1.381 minutes) than in the control group. Conclusions: Patients with a better knowledge of the bronchoscopy procedure were more comfortable with the process, and the procedure duration was significantly shorter. Moreover, the process results in minimizing the levels of anxiety and improving the tolerability of the patients.