Pictorial aids at discharge for minor head injury patients V2
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Do pictorial aids improve recall of written discharge information in patients with a minor head injury? A prospective cohort study
IRAS ID
183498
Contact name
Daniel Apau
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
City University
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 11 months, 17 days
Research summary
In the UK, 1.4 million people attend emergency departments with a head injury but 85% of these are categorised as minor head injuries and many are discharged with self-care instructions to manage symptoms at home (NICE, 2014). This information provided is integral to safe patient discharge highlighting key warning signs and symptoms which can present for up to 6 months (Gravel et al, 2013). Despite this, very little research has been done on investigating the impact of these symptoms in this group of patients and their ability to recall the information provided at discharge (Samuels-Kalow et al, 2012).
Clinical studies demonstrate the positive benefits of the use of pictorial aids to aid communication and memory recall in patients with symptoms of cognitive deficit which may be key to improving outcome and exploring a possible beneficial effect in using pictorial aids in this head injury cohort. By enhancing memory recall in the group of patients it may contribute to improving safe discharge planning by ensuring patients can correctly identify and manage expectations of symptoms to prevent unnecessary returns to the emergency department.
This proposed study is a self-funded single-centred study based in the Emergency Department at University College London Hospital. It aims to recruit 200 people between 18-70 years with a minor head injury with no lasting neurological deficit and requires no follow up upon discharge home. The first group will be given written discharge information and the second group will be given additional pictorial aids. Each participant will be provided with a patient information sheet about the aims and outcomes of study. They will be required to sign a consent form pending assessment of capacity and criteria. All participants can withdraw from the study at any point without compromising their on-going care.
REC name
London - Riverside Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
16/LO/0303
Date of REC Opinion
28 Apr 2016
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion