Forewarned is forearmed - benefits of preparatory information on video cassette for patients receiving chemotherapy or radiotherapy - a randomised controlled trial

A series of UK and European audits have revealed that a high proportion of patients remain dissatisfied with the information they received following a diagnosis of cancer. Additional educational aids are often required to fac ilitate the consent process, and our previous work showed a high level of a cceptability for video-directed information for this purpose. In this study a multidisciplinary team of health professionals worked with patients, a d ocumentary film company and experienced television personalities to produce an information film. The aim of this study was to assess the benefits of r eceiving a cassette to take home following the first consultation and this was evaluated in a randomised multicentre controlled study among 220 patien ts receiving chemotherapy or radiotherapy over a 6-month period. There was a significant correlation between satisfaction and reduced treatment-relate d anxiety overall. In the video group, the mean Hospital Anxiety and Depres sion (HAD) anxiety score was significantly lower during treatment compared with the non-video group (4.6+/-3.7 (range: 0-18) versus 7.4+/-5.2 (range: 0 20), Chi square test P = 0.001). Likewise, the mean HAD depression scores were also significantly lower in the patients prepared for the side-effect s of treatment with the video (2.9+/-2.9 (range: 0-13) versus 5.3+/-4.7 (ra nge: 0-21) Chi square test P = 0.001). 81% felt the video was helpful. only 5% of patients Felt this extra information was worrying. Well designed vid eo cassettes should be regarded as a useful additional information strategy , within routine oncology practice. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All righ ts reserved.