Many Patients Overestimate the Benefits of PCI

Many patients do not understand or remember the information given to them during the informed consent process for percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), according to a study published online in the European Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing.

Felicity Astin, Ph.D., R.N., from the University of Huddersfield in the United Kingdom, and colleagues assessed cardiologists' and patients' views about the informed consent process. Two cross-sectional, anonymous surveys were distributed in England. Overall, 118 cardiologists and 326 patients completed the surveys.

The researchers found that similar views were shared by cardiologists and patients on the purpose of informed consent; more than 40 percent of patients and more than one-third of cardiologists agreed that patients do not understand or remember the information given. Compared with cardiologists, patients placed less value on the consent process: More than 60 percent agreed that patients relied on their doctor making the decision for them. There were significant differences in patients' and cardiologists' views on the benefits of PCI; 60 percent of patients mistakenly believed that PCI was curative.

"The renewed emphasis on supported decision making reflects a paradigm shift in thinking about the informed consent process, with the patients' views and preferences becoming more prominent," the authors write. "This reframing of patient-health professional discussions will no doubt gather momentum across other international health settings but requires the reconfiguration of the PCI patient pathway."

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