Patients' satisfaction with information on disease and morbidity.

This descriptive-correlational study aimed to evaluate the relation between patients' satisfaction with information they have about their disease and its morbidity. A questionnaire was applied in two samples: 235 individuals with recent experience of illness (network sampling) and 254 hospitalized cancer patients post-surgery (consecutive sampling). The Escala de Conhecimentos sobre a Doença(12) [Patients' Satisfaction with Information Questionnaire--PSIQ] and the Rotterdam Symptom Checklist were used. Results show that participants were dissatisfied with information received and this dissatisfaction was more pronounced in hospitalized patients. An inverse statistically significant correlation (p < 0.001) is observed between patients' satisfaction with information and physical, psychological and global morbidity. The conclusion is that obtained results appoint to the need for health professionals to invest more in patient information and reinforce the benefits of this area of nursing care.