We have identified efforts by research ers to investigate interventions which seek to improve information delivery and consideration of information to enhance  informed consent .
The interventions used consistently improve patient knowledge , an important prerequisite for informed consent .
This is encouraging and these measures could be widely employed although we are not able to say with confidence which types of interventions are preferable .
Our results should be interpreted with caution due to the high levels of heterogeneity associated with many of the main analyses although we believe there is broad evidence of beneficial outcomes for patients with the pragmatic application of interventions .
BACKGROUND Achieving informed consent is a core clinical procedure and is required before any surgical or invasive procedure is undertaken .
However , it is a complex process which requires patients be provided with information which they can underst and and retain , opportunity to consider their options , and to be able to express their opinions and ask questions .
There is evidence that at present some patients undergo procedures without informed consent being achieved .
OBJECTIVES To assess the effects on patients , clinicians and the healthcare system of interventions to promote informed consent for patients undergoing surgical and other invasive healthcare treatments and procedures .
AUTHORS ' CONCLUSIONS Informed consent is an important ethical and practical part of patient care .
A randomised study of three different informational AIDS prior to coronary angiography, measuring patient recall, satisfaction and anxiety.
BACKGROUND Informed consent is a basic st and ard of care for all patients undergoing medical procedures , but recall of information has been shown to be poor . We sought to compare verbal , written and animated audiovisual information delivery , during consent for coronary angiography , by measuring improvement in recall . METHOD A sample population of 99 cardiac patients at Flinders Medical Centre was r and omised ( 1:1:1 ) to receive one of three information delivery methods . The information content was st and ardised by a risk proforma , which explained the procedure and defined 12 specific risks . Recall , satisfaction and anxiety were assessed by a question naire administered at three different time points : post-consent , post-procedure and at 30 days . Effect of delivery method on satisfaction and anxiety was rated on a self-reported scale from 1 - 5 , with 5 representing very satisfied or very anxious . Groups were compared by non-parametric testing and a p-value of < 0.05 was considered statistically significant . RESULTS Patients were a median age of 64 ( i.q.r . 56 , 72 ) years . Information delivery method had no effect on recall of risks at any time-point ( p=0.2 , 0.7 , 0.5 , respectively ) and the average recall score across the population was 3 - 4 out of 12 . There was no significant effect on median satisfaction scores : verbal ; 5 ( i.q.r.4 , 5 ) versus written/audiovisual ; 4 ( i.q.r.4 , 5 ) ( p = ns ) , or on median anxiety scores : verbal ; 3 ( i.q.r.2 , 4 ) versus written/audiovisual ; 3 ( i.q.r.2 , 4 ) ( p = ns ) . CONCLUSION Despite careful design of an innovative audiovisual delivery technique aim ed at optimising comprehension and aiding memory , recall of information was poor and informational aids showed no improvement . Modes of information delivery are not the key to patient assimilation of complex medical information
We have identified efforts by research ers to investigate interventions which seek to improve information delivery and consideration of information to enhance  informed consent .
The interventions used consistently improve patient knowledge , an important prerequisite for informed consent .
This is encouraging and these measures could be widely employed although we are not able to say with confidence which types of interventions are preferable .
Our results should be interpreted with caution due to the high levels of heterogeneity associated with many of the main analyses although we believe there is broad evidence of beneficial outcomes for patients with the pragmatic application of interventions .
BACKGROUND Achieving informed consent is a core clinical procedure and is required before any surgical or invasive procedure is undertaken .
However , it is a complex process which requires patients be provided with information which they can underst and and retain , opportunity to consider their options , and to be able to express their opinions and ask questions .
There is evidence that at present some patients undergo procedures without informed consent being achieved .
OBJECTIVES To assess the effects on patients , clinicians and the healthcare system of interventions to promote informed consent for patients undergoing surgical and other invasive healthcare treatments and procedures .
AUTHORS ' CONCLUSIONS Informed consent is an important ethical and practical part of patient care .