Patient desire for information before a total hip-replacement operation.

Patients who had been admitted to hospital in the Adelaide area for a total hip-replacement operation were questioned about the information that they wanted before their operation. The results showed that the majority of patients wanted to know about almost all aspects of their operation, including postoperative care. The major sources of information were the hospital doctors (surgeons, interns, and so on) who attended the patients. Doctors who regularly attended patients who were undergoing total hip-replacement operations also were surveyed in order to determine their perception of patients' desire for information; they underestimated significantly patients' wishes as indicated by the first survey. The implications of these findings for improvements in patient care are discussed.