AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE INFORMATION OBTAINED BY PATIENTS UNDERGOINGGASTROSCOPY INVESTIGATIONS

(.)The benefits of informing patients before undergoing surgery or oth er investigative procedures are clearly: demonstrated in the literatur e. (.)This study aimed to determine the amount and type of information given to patients before, during and after undergoing gastroscopy inv estigations. (.)A survey approach incorporating structured interviews and structured observation was utilized. (.)There were statistically s ignificant differences between the information acquired by younger and older patients prior to, but not during or after, the procedure. (.)N urses appear to be the most important source of information for older patients while the information leaflet was perceived as the most impor tant source of information for younger patients.