An Evaluation of the Effectiveness of a Prearteriogram Teaching Program: An Exploratory Study

Abstract

An exploratory study was conducted in order to identify what information patients have and/or want to have about an arteriogram prior to the procedure being performed, and to evaluate the effectiveness of a prearteriogram teaching program in providing this information. The final sample consisted of nine adult patients who were hospitalized and scheduled for arteriography (except for cerebral arteriograms). Data were collected over a two-and-a-half month period utilizing a prearteriogram and a postarteriogram questionnaire. Subjects were contacted prior to the arteriogram and asked to complete part of the prearteriogram questionnaire. The Singer Caramate (Model SP-2) was then used to present the prearteriogram teaching program (a cassette tape recording with accompanying slides) to the subjects. The program. provided the subjects with information about the arteriogram, including preparation for the procedure, how the procedure was performed, and postprocedural care. The subjects then completed the remainder of the prearteriogram questionnaire. Within 48 hours of the completion of the arteriogram the subjects were again contacted and asked to complete the postarteriogram questionnaire. Results of this study indicated that these subjects had very little, if any, information about the arteriogram prior to the procedure being performed, but that they did desire information about the preparation for the test, the procedure itself, and postprocedural care. Most of the subjects in the study indicated that they acquired information about the arteriogram from the prearteriogram teaching program, and that this program was helpful to them in preparing them for the arteriogram. The majority of the subjects also recommended that future patients scheduled for arteriograms be given this informati.on by presenting the program to them prior to the procedure. Thus, the investigator postulated that the presentation of information in an audio-visual program prior to an arteriogram is an effective means of providing information about the procedure to patients.