"Effect Of Preoperative Education On Length Of Stay Of Patients Undergoing Abdominal Surgeries: An Experimental Study." In A Tertiary Care Hospital In Northern India

The health care system has received much attention in recent years as efforts are made to reduce costs while maintaining or improving the quality of care.  Studying outcomes has been one method of evaluating health care delivery. One commonly measured outcome of interest is length of stay (LOS).    Objectives: To determine the effectiveness of video assisted education on length of stay of patients undergoing abdominal surgeries.   Materials and methods: An experimental study was undertaken to assess the effect of video assisted education on length of stay on patients undergoing abdominal surgeries. Total 63 samples in the control group and 63 in the experimental group aged 18 years and above were selected by random sampling from all surgical wards (male and female wards) where patients were admitted for surgery. Patients in the intervention group were prepared for surgery one day prior to the surgery in the surgical wards during preoperative period by showing them videos on what to expect before, during and after surgery and were monitored for performing exercises regularly every three to four hours post operatively.  The length of stay in the hospital was marked including the day of surgery and days spent in ICU and post operative wards by an observational checklist. Descriptive and inferential statistics was used for the analysis of the tabulated data.   Results: Out of 63 in experimental group respondents’ maximum respondents 16 (25%) were from age group of 38-47 years. Majority of the respondents 33 (52%) were male, 57(90%) were married, 20 (32%) of the participants were Graduates. In control group, majority 17 (27%) of the participants were in the age group 48-57 years. 36 (57%) were male and 55 (87%) were married, 26 (41%) of the participants educational status were less than 10th standard. In the experimental group 45 (72% i.e majority of the participants stayed 5-8 days in hospital and in the control group also majority of the participants 41(65%) stayed 5-8 days in hospital. There was no significant difference in the length of stay in the hospital for surgery in both the groups The video assisted education did not show any significant effect on the length of stay of patients admitted for abdominal surgeries. Our study results is consistent with the study findings by (Kalogianni, et al,216) indicated "the preoperative teaching minimize the postoperative complication but did not affect the effectiveness on length" of hospital stay. From a time where a postoperative stay of 10 days was not uncommon, patients are now routinely discharged on postoperative day