Video‐based educational tool improves patient comprehension of common prostate health terminology

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Health care providers often counsel prostate cancer patients about treatment options with medical terminology. However, studies have demonstrated a severe lack of comprehension of these terms, particularly in underserved populations. It was hypothesized that a video-based educational tool would significantly improve the understanding of key terms related to prostate health in a predominantly lower literacy population. METHODS: A software application was developed by various experts, including urologists and human-computer interaction specialists, to serve as a video-based educational tool emphasizing narrated animations to promote understanding of terms related to urinary, bowel, and sexual function. This application was viewed by patients recruited from 2 low-income safety net clinics, where a previously developed survey was administered to assess pre-and postintervention levels of comprehension. RESULTS: Fifty-six patients with a mean literacy level of 7th to 8th grade completed the study. Patients achieved statistically significant improvements in comprehension for the majority of the terms after the video intervention, with notable improvements including the terms incontinence (from 14% to 50%), bowels (from 14% to 46%), and impotence (from 58% to 84%). Patients demonstrated significant gains in their understanding of the function of the prostate (from 11% to 30%) and in their ability to locate the prostate on anatomic drawings (from 50% to 82%). CONCLUSIONS: This video-based educational tool is an effective method for overcoming the severe lack of comprehension of prostate health terminology among patients. The improvements achieved have the potential to enhance patient participation in shared and informed decision making and to support combined visual-audio multimedia as a promising tool for prostate cancer education. Cancer 2015;121:733-40.

Accuracy of PSA Self‐Reports among Low‐Income Men with Prostate Cancer after a Public Health Nursing Intervention

“…The program's case management model is designed to empower traditionally disadvantaged men through individualized nursing interventions that include education, advocacy, support, and care coordination (Maliski et al., ). Other studies have shown that navigational and educational interventions can be helpful in eliminating socioeconomic barriers and improving knowledge in low‐income oncology populations (Gabitova & Burke, ; Rodday et al., ; Wang et al., ). Though not statistically significant, our patients' self‐reported PSA levels did trend toward increasing accuracy over time.…”

Videos improve patient understanding of misunderstood chemotherapy terminology

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“…Comprehension of these terms was then tested, establishing that many of the terms were frequently misunderstood . Because previous reports had demonstrated that videos improve patient comprehension, the investigators developed videos that described prostate health terminology and resulted in improved understanding …”

“…19,20 Because previous reports had demonstrated that videos improve patient comprehension, 21 the investigators developed videos that described Cancer November 15, 2019 prostate health terminology and resulted in improved understanding. 22 Our project intended to replicate this effort with chemotherapy terminology. We first established a word bank of terms that are important to understand but are frequently misunderstood, then developed videos 15 and pilot-tested 6 of them to determine whether they improved patient comprehension.…”

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