Comparative evaluation of the effectiveness of verbal and combined verbal and written post-operative instructions following some dental procedures

Abstract

Aim: To determine recall ability of patients of post-operative instructions and to evaluate differences in compliance to verbal instructions and combined verbal and written instructions. Method: Eight hundred and fifteen consecutive adult patients who consented to participate in the study were recruited from two units (Oral and maxillofacial surgery (407) and Periodontology (408) of the dental centre, University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria over a period of three years. Institutional ethical approval was obtained. The patients were divided into two groups each by random sampling; verbal (“V") only and both verbal and written (“V and W") post-extraction and post- professional oral prophylaxis instructions. Questionnaires (self and interviewer administered) were used to evaluate patients ‘demography, postoperative clinical assessment and assessment of recall abilities. Data was analyzed using SPSS Version 20.0 and descriptive statistics was used to summarize the variables. Independent sample student t-test and Chi square were used to test association involving descriptive data and level of significance was set at P< 0.05. Result: Recall ability of ten elements of the post-extraction instructions were statistically significant between the "V and W" group and the "V" group (p values were 0.001, 0.014 and 0.001) while recall ability of the post-oral prophylaxis instruction of two elements between the two groups were not statistically significant (p values were 0.807 and 0.992) while one was statistically significant (p value was 0.036), p value was set at p< 0.05. Conclusion: The "V" and "W" group was found to be more effective because it gave more significant differences in the recall abilities between the two groups especially in the post-extraction instructions in this study.