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  • Evaluating the feasibility of a web-based discharge education programme to improve general surgical patients’ postdischarge recovery: a pilot randomised controlled trial

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Nursing
Original research
Evaluating the feasibility of a web-based discharge education programme to improve general surgical patients’ postdischarge recovery: a pilot randomised controlled trial
  1. Evelyn Kang1,
  2. Wendy Chaboyer2,
  3. Georgia Tobiano2,3,
  4. Brigid Gillespie2,3
  1. 1School of Nursing and Midwifery, Griffith University - Gold Coast Campus, Southport, Queensland, Australia
  2. 2NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence in Wiser Wound Care, Menzies Health Institute Queensland, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia
  3. 3Nursing and Midwifery Education and Research Unit, Gold Coast University Hospital, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia
  1. Correspondence to Ms Evelyn Kang; e.kang{at}griffith.edu.au

Abstract

Objective To assess the feasibility of implementing a web-based discharge education programme for general surgery patients both prior to and after hospital discharge.

Design, setting and participants This is a prospective, two-arm, pilot randomised controlled trial. Patients who had a general surgery procedure were recruited from a tertiary hospital between October 2020 and January 2021. Patients were randomly assigned to either the standard education or the web-based education intervention.

Intervention The web-based education comprised of three components designed to enhance patients’ knowledge, skills and confidence to improve their engagement with self-care, and the ability to detect any postoperative issues that can arise during the postdischarge period.

Main outcomes and measures The primary outcome was feasibility in terms of recruitment, randomisation, retention and treatment fidelity related to intervention delivery, adherence and satisfaction. Secondary outcomes were patient activation, self-care ability and unplanned healthcare utilisation.

Results Eighty-five patients were recruited and randomised (42 control; 43 intervention). Twenty-three (27%) were lost to follow-up. All patients received their group allocation as randomised and all patients in the intervention group received the web-based education prior to discharge. Postdischarge, patients accessed the education an average of 3 times (SD 3.14), with 4 minutes (SD 16) spent on the website. 28 (97%) of the intervention patients found the content easy to understand, 25 (86%) found it useful and 24 (83%) were satisfied with its content. There was a significant association between the intervention and patient activation (F(1,60)=9.347, p=0.003), but not for self-care ability and unplanned healthcare utilisations.

Conclusion This pilot study demonstrated the feasibility of implementing a web-based education programme. There was a high number of participants lost to follow-up, requiring additional attention in the design and implementation of a larger trial.

Trial registration number ACTRN12620000389909p.

  • adult surgery
  • education & training (see medical education & training)
  • wound management

Data availability statement

No data are available. Access to individual patient-level data is not available for this study.

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited, appropriate credit is given, any changes made indicated, and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.

https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2021-054038

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    Data availability statement

    No data are available. Access to individual patient-level data is not available for this study.

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    Footnotes

    • Contributors EK designed the work, collected, analysed and interpreted the data, and wrote the draft of the manuscript. WC, BG and GT contributed to the design and methodology, provided critical feedback on drafts of the manuscript, supervised the study, and finally approved this version to be published. EK accepts full responsibility for the work and the conduct of the study, had access to the data, and controlled the decision to publish.

    • Funding This study was supported by grants from the Australian College of Perioperative Nurses Queensland (ACORN).

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.

    • Supplemental material This content has been supplied by the author(s). It has not been vetted by BMJ Publishing Group Limited (BMJ) and may not have been peer-reviewed. Any opinions or recommendations discussed are solely those of the author(s) and are not endorsed by BMJ. BMJ disclaims all liability and responsibility arising from any reliance placed on the content. Where the content includes any translated material, BMJ does not warrant the accuracy and reliability of the translations (including but not limited to local regulations, clinical guidelines, terminology, drug names and drug dosages), and is not responsible for any error and/or omissions arising from translation and adaptation or otherwise.