Patient Education with the Aaos Knee Osteoarthritis Clinical Practice Guidelines: A Valuable Tool in the Clinic for Immediate Post Encounter Knowledge Retention

Background: In May 2013, the AAOS published the 2^nd edition evidence based clinical practice guidelines (CPG) on the non-arthroplasty treatment options for patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of an educational poster outlining the AAOS knee OA CPG on patient knowledge retention and satisfaction in the clinical setting.

Methods: This study was a prospective two-armed randomized controlled trial. Patients were randomized to either a poster room, where a poster outlining the CPG was displayed, or to a non-poster room. In both groups, the treatment options were described to the patient verbally; however, in the poster room, the poster was simultaneously presented as a visual teaching tool. Post-encounter questionnaires were administered to patients. The primary outcome measures were knowledge retention and patient-reported satisfaction scores.

Results: Of the 105 patients eligible patients, 51 (48.6%) were randomized to a non-poster room and 54 (51.4%) to a poster room. Patients exposed to the poster significantly outperformed the non-poster group on knowledge with an average score of 55.3% (95% CI: 50.8 – 59.7%) as compared to 39.5% (95% CI: 35.8 – 43.1%) (p < 0.001). There was a 99% overall visit satisfaction rate with no difference between groups; average 9.42/10 satisfaction (95% CI: 9.16 – 9.68) in the poster and 9.42/10 (95% CI: 9.13 – 9.71) in the non-poster room (p=0.99).

Conclusions: Patients exposed to the poster showed a statistically significant improvement in comprehensive knowledge assessment. Interestingly, even in the poster group, where all treatment guidelines were thoroughly presented, average knowledge scores were low, highlighting the deficits of clinic-based patient education on knowledge retention. There was no difference in satisfaction ratings between poster and non-poster groups. In conclusion, the poster offers a low-cost patient educational tool that significantly enhances patient knowledge retention and can be used as an adjunct to informed patient care.