Patient-centered discharge summaries to support safety and individual health literacy: a double-blind randomized controlled trial in Austria.

ABSTRACT:

Background

To ensure a safe patient discharge from hospital it is necessary to transfer all relevant information in a discharge summary (DS). The aim of this study was to evaluate a bundle of measures to improve the DS for physicians, nurses and patients.

Methods

In a double-blind, randomized, controlled trial, four different versions of DS (2 original, 2 revised) were tested with physicians, nurses and patients. We used an evaluation sheet (Case report form, CRF) with a 6-point Likert scale (1 = completely agree; 6 = strongly disagree).

Results

In total, 441 participants (physicians n = 146, nurses n = 140, patients n = 155) were included in the study. Overall, the two revised DS received significant better ratings than the original DS (original 2.8 ± 0.8 vs. revised

SUBMITTER: Schwarz CM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11234775 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature