Informing hospital patients and their relatives about stroke

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Abstract
Seventy-three episodes of stroke leading to hospital admission were followed up over the first two weeks. Patients and their relatives were assessed shortly after admission to hospital for their knowledge about the predisposing causes of stroke, the nature of the patients' illness and the treatment that was being given, their prognoses and the nature of financial and other help that would be available to them when they returned home. After one week, half the patients and relatives received an informative leaflet about stroke. When their knowledge of these factors was later assessed, only 7% of the patients who had not received the leaflet and 30% of their relatives could recall having received any information about stroke since admission. The corresponding figures for those who had received the leaflet were 65% and 62% respectively. Those who had received a leaflet knew significantly more about the aetiology of stroke and the treatment they were receiving than those who had not, but the leaflet made no difference to the level of knowledge about the patient's specific prognosis, nor about the range of benefits that would be available at the time the patient returned home. It is suggested that ward staff underestimate the amount of information that can usefully be absorbed by patients and their relatives and in this way are failing to establish the optimal conditions for their rehabilitation.