CAN PATIENTS SET THEIR OWN EDUCATIONAL PRIORITIES

This study aimed to determine if patients can set their own educationa l priorities accurately and if the impact of diabetes education on kno wledge differed between patients who did and did not set their own pri orities. Forty patients referred for individual education were randoml y assigned to one of two groups. Prior to education with a diabetes sp ecialist nurse (DSN) patients ranked 10 diabetes care topics in order of perceived importance and relevance to their needs and completed a k nowledge questionnaire. Group 1 set their own priorities and the DSN d irected education according to the patient's stated priorities. In Gro up 2 the DSN set the educational priorities without seeing the patient 's priority list. The priority ranking by the two groups of the 10 top ics and their pre-education knowledge score were not significantly dif ferent. Post-education knowledge scores improved equally and significa ntly in both groups (Group 1 from 23 to 87%; Group 2 from 21 to 79%; P < 0.0001). In both groups, knowledge scores for the top three priorit ies were significantly higher than for the three lowest ranked topics. Knowledge is neither dependent on, nor a good discriminator of, patie nt-selected priorities. There may be reasons why it is important for p atients to set their own priorities, but education directed solely at those priorities may leave knowledge deficits which could compromise d iabetes care.