Patient education is an important element of care for people having a range of investigations and treatments. The potentially beneficial effect on outcomes has been explored. In particular research, and meta-analyses of the studies, have demonstrated the positive effect of pre-operative education on post-operative outcomes in patients having a variety of surgical procedures. However, application of the findings to defined groups of specialist patients may be difficult. This paper seeks to establish whether pre-operative education benefits patients following coronary artery bypass surgery and to identify the outcomes affected. A broad search strategy revealed 10 studies which examined pre-operative education and measured post-operative outcomes. Data were extracted which revealed there is limited evidence to suggest that pre-operative education benefits patient's recovery from coronary artery bypass surgery. However, this finding should be considered with caution as this body of research suffered from weak design and there was limited available data.
With permission from Excerpta Medica Inc.

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