An Educational Needs Assessment for Patients with Liver Disease

INTRODUCTION: Liver disease forms a global health burden and is a cause of significant morbidity and mortality. Good patient education has proven to be a key tool in disease management, providing significant benefit in knowledge and behavioral modifications. To develop effective educational tools, a good understanding of patient educational needs and preferred learning methods is necessary. Few studies have evaluated the educational needs of patients with liver disease. This study aims to assess the educational needs of patients at a large tertiary liver center. METHOD: This study was a questionnaire-based cross-sectional study evaluating patient demographics,perceived and unperceived educational needs (hepatitis B and hepatitis Cknowledge) at a tertiary liver centre RESULTS: A total of 300 patients completed the questionnaire. Most patients stated they were “extremely” or “quite” interested in learning more about their liver condition (84.9%, n=242), in either “moderate” or “a lot of” detail (94.6%, n=202). There was no association between gender, age, level of education, annual income and interest of patients in learning more about their liver condition. There was a significant association between number of clinic visits and interest to learn more (p=0.022), but there was no association between the duration of their follow-up at the clinic and their interest to learn more (p=0.243). CONCLUSIONS: Overall, patients showed great interest in learning more about their liver condition, potentially indicating a need for more educational programs. Most patients prefer reading (via internet or pamphlets/brochures) or one-to-one discussions, giving us a good sense of potentially successful educational strategies that will fit the needs of most patients.