Breast radiotherapy patients valued both animated video and printed education

KEY POINTS

• The pilot included 40 adults beginning adjuvant breast radiotherapy, sequentially allocated to review either a printed pamphlet or a four-minute narrated animated video first; all participants subsequently reviewed both formats during the same consultation.
• Both resources contained essentially the same information about the rationale for RT, CT simulation, treatment logistics and management of expected side effects, allowing the study to focus primarily on format rather than educational content.
• 95% of participants rated the educational material as “very easy” to review. Comfort with CT simulation/treatment, preparedness for skin reactions and confidence in remembering information showed no significant differences between video and pamphlet.
• After seeing both formats, 50% preferred the video alone, 33% the paper pamphlet and 18% both. Preference was unaffected by which format patients saw first (p=0.41), arguing against a clear single-format winner.
• Age did not appear to be a barrier to digital education: patients younger and older than 65 showed no significant differences in usability or format preference, and exactly 10/20 patients in each age group preferred video alone.
• Across the consultation, self-reported anxiety fell from 30% before to 5% afterward (12 to 2 patients; p=0.002). Nervousness also decreased from 23% to 8%, although this was not statistically significant (p=0.070).
• The anxiety result should not be attributed specifically to the video or pamphlet: emotional state was reported retrospectively after the consultation, there was no true pre-intervention baseline or untreated control, allocation was nonrandomized, and the survey instruments were not validated.

CLINICAL TAKEAWAY

SOURCE

Technical Innovations & Patient Support in Radiation Oncology