Several factors correlated with patient comprehension of foot and ankle injury, treatment

TORONTO — Results presented at the American Orthopaedic Foot & Ankle Society Annual Meeting showed patient comprehension of issues related to the foot and ankle correlated with race, education, occupation, prior evaluation by an orthopedic surgeon and visit type.

“Foot and ankle-specific comprehension is crucial for [the] doctor/patient relationship [and] patients need to have adequate comprehension so they can form decisions,” Andrew Rosenbaum, MD, said in his presentation.

Rosenbaum and colleagues distributed a 14-question multiple choice survey with four domains based on terminology, anatomy, conditions and treatment, and perioperative considerations to 206 patients treated for a foot or ankle injury.

Results showed a mean score of approximately 9.88 out of 14 points. Compared to other subsections, researchers found participants performed significantly worse on the conditions and treatment subsection. Rosenbaum noted patients who were Caucasian, had higher levels of education, had a preoperative evaluation, and a current or previous occupation in health care had significantly better performance on the survey. Patients had a significantly higher score if they had been previously evaluated by an orthopedic surgeon for a foot and ankle complaint vs. other types of providers, according to results. – by Casey Tingle

Reference:

Rosenbaum A, et al. Orthopedic foot and ankle patient comprehension: An analysis of risk factors for limited understanding. Presented at: American Orthopaedic Foot & Ankle Society Annual Meeting; July 21-23, 2016; Toronto.

Disclosure: Rosenbaum reports support from McGraw-Hill and the AOFAS Public Education Committee.