Patient perceptions of surgical informed consent: is repeat back helpful or harmful?

Background: Informed consent (IC)comprehension is suboptimal. Repeat back (RB)-asking the patient to repeat in their own words key elements of the consent-is believed to improve the consent process.

Objective: This study aims to assess the impact of RB on patient perceptions of surgical informed consent.

Enhancement of surgical informed consent by addition of repeat back: a multicenter, randomized controlled clinical trial.

Objective: In this randomized, controlled, unblinded trial, we sought to test Repeat Back's (RB) effect on comprehension following informed consent discussions.

Summary Background Data: RB has been suggested as a method to improve patient comprehension when obtaining informed consent. In this technique, patients are asked to recount what they have been told in the informed consent discussion.

Predictors of comprehension during surgical informed consent.

Background: Patient comprehension during surgical informed consent remains problematic. Using data from our randomized trial of methods to improve informed consent comprehension, we performed an additional analysis to define independent factors associated with improved patient understanding.

Study Design: Patients scheduled for 1 of 4 elective operations (total hip arthroplasty [n = 137], carotid endarterectomy [n = 178], laparoscopic cholecystectomy [n = 179], or radical prostatectomy [n = 81]) at 7 Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical centers were enrolled.