Purpose: Patient knowledge of radiation therapy (RT) before consult is typically limited, with many having misconceptions or fears. There exists a need to improve patient education in RT. Our purpose was to study the impact of patient education videos on patient-reported knowledge of RT, anxiety/fear, and satisfaction.
Methods and materials: At our institution, we created 2 RT educational videos: a general RT video and a breast cancer-specific video. Patients presenting for breast RT who agreed to participate (n = 107) were randomly assigned to receive a link to the videos (video group; n = 58) or not (no-video group; n = 49) before consultation. Pre- and postconsult surveys were administered assessing patient-reported measures on a 5-point Likert-type scale.
Results: Patients in the video group reported significantly higher levels of confidence in their knowledge of radiation side effects, with 45.6.% at least somewhat confident versus 21.3% in the no-video group (P = .009; median on a 5-point Likert-type scale, 2 [interquartile range {IQR}, 2-3] versus 2 [IQR, 1-2], respectively [P = .012]). There was a trend toward higher knowledge of the radiation treatment process in the video group (median, 3 [IQR, 2-3] versus 2 [IQR, 2-3] for no-video group; P = .064). There were no significant differences in preconsult anxiety or fear between the groups, but of those who were assigned videos, 46.8% reported decreased anxiety afterward, and 66.0% felt more comfortable coming to a consult. While those in the no-video group hypothesized that a video would be helpful (median, 3; IQR, 3-4), those in the video group found them to be very helpful in real life (median, 4; IQR, 45; P = .0009). After the consult, all patients in both groups were satisfied.
Conclusions: Patient education videos increase patient-reported knowledge of RT and are found to be very helpful.
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