EVALUATING THE BENEFITS OF A PATIENT INFORMATION VIDEO DURING THE INFORMED CONSENT PROCESS

The study objective was to evaluate the effect of a patient informatio n video during the informed consent process of a perinatal trial. Nine ty women, between 19 and 33 weeks gestation, were randomised to receiv e written information about this perinatal trial and watch an informat ion video or to receive written information only. Participants complet ed a questionnaire immediately after entry and 2-4 weeks later assessi ng knowledge of; feelings about the worth of; and willingness for futu re participation in the perinatal trial. When initially asked, more wo men who watched the video thought they would consent to the study (chi (2) = 6.3; df = 1; P = 0.01). No differences in knowledge about the pe rinatal trial were found initially, but 2-4 weeks later more knowledge had been retained by women who had watched the video (chi(2) = 6.7; d f = 1; P = 0.01). These results suggest that a patient information vid eo combined with an information sheet may result in greater participat ion in a research trial and may increase women's knowledge of a specif ic health problem and related research trial.