Accuracy of patient recall of preoperative symptom severity (angina and breathlessness) at one year following aorta-coronary artery bypass grafting.

Aim And Objective: The accuracy with which patients recall their cardiac symptoms prior to aorta-coronary artery bypass grafting is assessed approximately one year after surgery together with patient-related factors potentially influencing accuracy of recall.

Background: This is a novel investigation of patient's rating of preoperative symptom severity before and approximately one year following aorta-coronary artery bypass grafting.

Design: Patients undergoing aorta-coronary artery bypass grafting (n = 208) were recruited preoperatively and 177 of these were successfully followed up at 16.

The development and preliminary evaluation of a decision aid based on decision analysis for two treatment conditions: benign prostatic hyperplasia and hypertension.

This paper discusses the development and evaluation of a computerised decision aid that provides individualised information about Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH) and Hypertension to patients. The program is based on decision analysis, using decision trees as a way of providing users with information regarding the probability of different outcomes occurring, obtaining an individual evaluation of the different outcomes, before providing guidance on what might be the 'best' option for that patient. It is intended that the program can be used as the basis for helping patients to become more involved in decisions about their medical treatment.