Awareness of diagnosis and treatment plan among patients in the Accident and Emergency Department of a Nigerian tertiary hospital.

Abstract

Background: Patient centred care has a correlation to effectiveness of patient engagement, patient care, and perceived quality of care. Even in the emergency room, awareness of diagnosis and treatment plan is a critical component in every doctor-patient interface as it enhances patient-centred care. This study aims to assess awareness of diagnosis and treatment plan among patients in the accident and emergency department.

Methodology: This is a cross-sectional study conducted at the accident and emergency department of the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital.

Result: One hundred and ninety-seven respondents were recruited into this study comprising of 51.3% males and 48.8% females. Most 86.8% of the respondents were aware of their diagnosis, of which 91.8% knew the accurate diagnosis. Majority 84.8% of the respondents were aware of the treatment, while 68.8% of the respondents were aware of the names of the medications, most of the respondents 59.4% had no knowledge of the side effects of the medications. The majority, 61.4% were involved in the management decision. No significant relationship existed between the socio-demographic characteristics and knowledge of diagnosis and treatment plan.

Conclusion: The chaotic and overcrowded nature of the accident and emergency department should not hamper the delivery of patient centred care. Although, findings obtained from this study reveal that majority of the respondents are aware of their diagnosis and treatment plan, a portion of respondents do not understand their plan of care; this indicates the need for further studies to identify interventions that would ensure that gaps in the physician -patient communication are filled as this optimizes patients' satisfaction of care received, gives better sense of control of their total situation and better quality of life.