J Korean Soc Emerg Med.  2012 Oct;23(5):712-720.

The Efficacy of Discharge Instructions Provided by a Tablet Personal Computer for Aiding the Comprehension and Satisfaction of Patients with Ureteral Stones

• Kim HK
• Ahn JH
• You JY
• Ha SM
• Choi JH
• Cho GC
• Sohn YD

Abstract

PURPOSE
This study was conducted in order to evaluate the possibility of improving the comprehension and satisfaction of patients discharged after receiving discharge instructions using a tablet personal computer (tablet PC), compared with conventional discharge instructions.
METHODS
A randomized, prospective, consecutive, exploratory study was conducted on patients with ureteral stones in an emergency department (ED). The patients' objective comprehension, satisfaction, and subjective comprehension regarding their discharge instructions were compared with regard to discharge instruction (traditional verbal method, N=53 versus tablet PC method, N=53).
RESULTS
No statistically significant differences in age, gender, or level of education were observed between the two groups. The mean number of correct answers regarding ureteral stones on the questionnaire was 2.35+/-1.02 in the conventional group (CG) and 3.37+/-0.9 in the tablet PC group (TG) (p<0.05). The score for satisfaction was 7.75 in the CG and 8.03 in the TG (p>0.05). The subjective comprehension score was 7.42 in the CG and 7.8 in the TG (p>0.05).
CONCLUSION
Objective comprehension of ureteral stones showed improvement in the group with discharge instructions provided by the tablet PC. However, satisfaction and subjective comprehension did not show improvement.

Keyword

Handheld computer; Computer assisted instruction; Patient discharge; Urolithiasis

MeSH Terms

Comprehension
Computer-Assisted Instruction
Computers, Handheld
Emergencies
Humans
Microcomputers
Patient Discharge
Prospective Studies
Surveys and Questionnaires
Ureter
Urolithiasis