Turkish and German patients current knowledge of diagnosis and therapy at the beginning and at the end of the in-patient stay

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Knowledge and understanding are basic preconditions for an effective doctor-patient-relationship, a good compliance and the patient’s participation in the therapeutic process. Our study investigates differences in the knowledge of German and Turkish ethnicity before and after the informed consent in an surgical gynecological ward and identifies factors that influence and explain possible differences. Patients and METHODS: 579 women, who were patients of both gynecological wards of the Clinic of Gynecology and Obstetrics of Charité, Campus Virchow-Klinikum Berlin were included in the study. To detect the current knowledge of the in-patients at the beginning and at the end of their stay in hospital, their statements in a questionnaire on what they know about their diagnosis and the therapy were compared with the data documented in the respective hospital file. RESULTS: Totalling 69% of all patients knew their diagnosis and 76% knew the therapy conducted in the clinic correctly. The knowledge at the beginning and at the end of the in-patient stay differed significantly. While German patients knew more, immigrant patients of Turkish background showed noticeable deficits in their knowledge of the diagnosis and therapy. For the Turkish patients questioned in the study after the informed consent a loss of information was observed. CONCLUSION: The results reflect socio-demographic differences between different ethnic groups and show deficits in the information process before and during the stay in hospital especially for immigrant women.