EVALUATION OF A PATIENT FILE FOLDER TO IMPROVE THE DISSEMINATION OF WRITTEN INFORMATION MATERIALS FOR CANCER-PATIENTS

BACKGROUND. Many cancer centers make available to patients written inf ormation material to supplement verbal information provided by clinici ans. Randomized trials have demonstrated that providing such informati on can increase patient knowledge and satisfaction. However, little da ta are available regarding effective means of dissemination of such ma terials. The purpose of this study was to determine whether providing patients with a personal file folder after their first clinic appointm ent would improve the dissemination of written information materials a nd increase patient satisfaction. METHODS. A before/after study was pe rformed. Consecutive patients with newly diagnosed cancer attending th e Hamilton Regional Cancer Centre were selected randomly and interview ed by telephone within 1-2 weeks of the first clinic appointment regar ding the number of information pamphlets received, patient satisfactio n, and general preference for written information materials. The prein tervention evaluation (T-1) occurred over a 4-month period followed by the introduction of the personal file folder into the clinical practi ce. Six weeks after its introduction, the postintervention (T-2) evalu ation took place over the ensuing 4 months. RESULTS. A total of 300 pa tients completed the evaluation (150 each in T-1 and T-2). Responding patients in the two time periods were comparable with respect to backg round demographic variables. The mean number of information pamphlets received by patients increased with the introduction of the personal f ile folder from 2.4 +/- 2.0 standard deviations (SD) in T-1 to 3.6 +/- 2.5 SD in T-2 (P = 0.0001). The percentage of patients planned for tr eatment who received treatment-related information increased from 36% (42 of 116 patients) in T-1 to 65% (68 of 105 patients) in T-2 (P = 0. 002). Mean patient satisfaction increased from 3.3 +/- 1.1 SD to 3.8 /- 1.0 SD over the 2 time periods (P = 0.0001). The majority of patien ts (87%) believed it was important to receive written information mate rials. CONCLUSIONS, The patient file folder increased the disseminatio n of written information materials and currently is being incorporated into routine practice. Cancer 1998;83:1620-5. (C) 1998 American Cance r Society.