Patients' view of their preoperative education for radical prostatectomy: does it change after surgery?

When preparing the evaluation of a newly designed multimedia tool for supporting preoperative education before radical prostatectomy, we realized that the standard procedure has rarely been investigated. Therefore, we performed semi-structured interviews with 30 consecutive patients the day before and 15 days after radical prostatectomy. Patients' opinion about their preoperative education is decidedly positive and demonstrates intense patient-physician interaction. All patients wanted to be informed about the procedure and possible risks. None reported to be dissatisfied. All but one of the patients (29/30) was able to ask every single question (6.5 mean). Except for signs of forgetting and a slightly altered retrospective assessment of anxiety, we have found no relevant changes over time. Preoperative education is very important to our patients. Therefore, good communication skills should be developed during medical education. A systematic patient-centered approach could further improve the quality of care.