The use of patient education video in improving patient satisfaction in the accident and emergency department

Objective: To study the impact of patient education video in improving patient satisfaction in the accident and emergency department (AED). Methods: This was a descriptive questionnaire Study. A 20-minute patient education video in Cantonese was produced. The video was shown in the waiting hall from 9 am to 5 pm during the weekdays of a week in January 2008. All category 4 (semi-urgent) and category 5 (non-urgent) patients were invited to fill in an evaluation questionnaire after watching the video. The demographics of the patients were collected. There were two parts in the questionnaire. Part I contained four questions to test patients' knowledge retention after watching the video. These included questions on pharmacy location, triage system, use of patient identification slip and scope of the AED service. Part 2 contained six evaluation items (based on the 5-point Likert scale) to assess patients' opinion oil the education video, understanding of the AED workflow and level of satisfaction after watching. :Statistical analysis was performed to compare the knowledge retention scores and the Likert responses between different age and education level subgroups. Results: Altogether 177 questionnaires were returned; 72 were excluded due to incomplete answers or absent patient gum label; and 105 completed questionnaires were analysed. Of the latter, 83 (79%) respondents scored 75% or more in the questions on knowledge retention, 79 (75%) respondents agreed that they understood the workflow of the AED better, 63 (60%) respondents thought that the video covered most frequently asked questions, and 69 (66%) respondents agreed that their level of satisfaction had improved after watching the video. There was no statistically significant difference on comparing the knowledge retention scores between different age and education level subgroups. Respondents more than 60 years old stated a better Understanding about the location of consultation rooms after watching the video. Conclusion: A patient education video is useful in providing information about operation and improving patient satisfaction ill the accident and emergency department. (Hong Kong j.emerg.med. 2009; 16:5-13)