142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition

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Comparative effects of a traditionally written, high literacy set of pre-colonoscopy instructions and a patient-centered, literacy appropriate instruction booklet on patient barriers to preparation and attendance to the procedure

142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition (November 15 - November 19, 2014): http://www.apha.org/events-and-meetings/annual
Wednesday, November 19, 2014 : 8:30 AM - 8:48 AM

Robert Ross, MPH , School of Allied Health Professionals, Public Health Program, LSU Health Shreveport, Shreveport, LA
Terry Davis, PhD , Department of Medicine - Pediatrics, Louisiana State University - Shreveport, Shreveport, LA
Dennis Wissing, PhD, FAARC , School of Allied Health Professions, Louisiana State University Health Shreveport - School of Allied Health Professions, Shreveport, LA
Audio (mp3) recording Recorded Presentation (mp4)
Endoscopy clinics have consistently high rates of improper preparation and non-attendance for screening colonoscopies.  In 2012, the endoscopy clinic at Louisiana State University Health Shreveport had a 32% outpatient colonoscopy non-attendance rate.  Health literacy and comprehension of written instructions have been indicated as barriers for patients to follow through with the procedure.  This study measures patient comprehension of two sets of colonoscopy instructions and compares perceived barriers to screening. 

We are currently recruiting patients who meet the United States Preventive Services Task Force screening recommendations to review either the currently used, non-patient centered, high literacy pre-colonoscopy instructions or a patient-centered, literacy appropriate version which we developed.  We will present patient interpretation of each set of instructions and highlight specific approaches to improving written communication which may translate into improved patient comprehension, adherence, and self-efficacy.

Pilot data indicate that patients have better comprehension of and are more receptive to the patient-centered, literacy appropriate instructions.  We will report on a cohort of 51 patients and anticipate identifying the patient-centered set of instructions to result in lower perceived barriers to pre-colonoscopy preparation and appointment attendance.

Learning Areas:

Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs
Provision of health care to the public
Public health or related research
Social and behavioral sciences

Learning Objectives:
Identify specific steps of colonoscopy preparation instructions with which patients have the most difficulty. Differentiate between patient-centered language and colonoscopy preparation jargon.

Keyword(s): Cancer Prevention and Screening, Health Literacy

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have been the co-principal investigator on this project, along with my thesis advisor Dr. Dennis Wissing, since its inception. I have worked in public health and health literacy research as a research associate for the past year. I was the lead on a nationwide team of health literacy and colonoscopy experts which developed the patient-centered instructions used in the study.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 5077.0: Advances in Health Literacy (organized by HCWG)