Effectiveness of multimedia interactive patient education on knowledge, uncertainty and decision-making in patients with end-stage renal disease

Aim. This study tested the efficacy of a multimedia interactive DVD as an education tool for patients with end-stage renal disease in terms of enhancing patient knowledge and decision-making skills and decreasing uncertainty. Background. End-stage renal case numbers in Taiwan are growing by approximately 6000 new patients per year. Helping patients choose an optimal treatment method to maximise quality of life is an important healthcare issue for this patient population. Design. This study adopted a quasi-experimental design and focused on subjects being treated at one medical centre in southern Taiwan. The study divided subjects into experimental and control groups. Methods. The experimental group received three multimedia interactive DVD nursing-guided interventions. The control group received only normal hospital health education. The study gathered data using several scales addressing knowledge, uncertainty perception and decision regret. Scales were implemented immediately before and after the multimedia interactive DVD nursing guidance intervention and at four and eight weeks postintervention. This study used an independent t-test, chi-square test and repeated measures analysis of variance. Results. This study found significant improvements in the experimental group in terms of knowledge, pre-dialysis uncertainty and decision regret. Experimental group subjects scored particularly less in terms of decision regret than those in the control group. Relevance to clinical practice. This study demonstrated the efficacy of the developed multimedia interactive DVD in significantly improving end-stage renal patient knowledge and reducing patient uncertainties and postdecision regret. Study findings can be used as a reference guide for clinical nursing education efforts in hospital and other healthcare settings.