Background and aims: Informed consent should allow patients the appropriate time and conditions to make decisions about their care. However, consent is often obtained immediately prior to a colonoscopy. We conducted a quality improvement study to assess how a preprocedure consent video 2 days prior to an outpatient colonoscopy impacts patient satisfaction.
Methods: Patients undergoing outpatient colonoscopy at a large academic medical center opted in to a text messaging platform for procedural information. Our intervention was an informed consent video 2 days before the colonoscopy. Our primary outcome was a composite patient satisfaction score. Pre and postintervention scores were compared using ordinal or multinomial logistic models to calculate odds ratios (OR) or relative risk ratios and 95% confidence intervals (CI), adjusting for age and sex.
Results: 1109 and 1452 patients completed ≥1 survey question in the pre and postintervention phases, respectively. Overall patient satisfaction did not differ between groups [OR for a 1-point increment in satisfaction score between post- vs pre-intervention groups = 1.05; 95% CI: 0.90-1.22; P = .51]. Compared to preintervention, postintervention respondents were more likely to report higher satisfaction with time available to talk with their physician (OR of a 1-point increase in individual question response = 1.29; 95% CI: 1.09-1.54; P = .004). Compared to preintervention, more physicians in the postintervention phase rated satisfaction with consent process efficiency as "very satisfied" or "satisfied" (P < .001).
Conclusion: An informed consent video prior to colonoscopy resulted in similar overall patient satisfaction. However, post-intervention, patients were more likely to report sufficient time to talk with their physician, and physicians reported higher satisfaction with consent efficiency.
Keywords: Colonoscopy; Informed Consent; Quality Improvement.