by Ann Kristin Sandsbakk Austarheim, Kristin Harris, Hilde Valen Wæhle, Anette Storesund, Randi Julie Tangvik, Arvid Steinar Haugen We hypothesised that a patient-driven safety checklist would enhance patients’ health literacy. This study was conducted as a sub-study of a multicentre cluster trial with a stepped wedge design.
Data were collected between March 2022 and February 2024. Healthcare personnel were partially blinded to group allocation and fully blinded to the health literacy questionnaire outcome.
The study included seven surgical specialties (clusters) from a tertiary teaching hospital and two community hospitals in Norway. The patients were included from a pool within the cluster trial.
In each of these seven clusters, 50 patients were randomly selected from 100 eligible patients both the control and the intervention group using a computer-generated randomisation procedure. This resulted in a total sample of 700 patients: 350 in each group, response rate 49.3%.
Adults (≥18 years) undergoing elective surgery, fluent in Norwegian, living at home, and without cognitive impairment were included.
PLOS ONE (Medicine) published a clinical update in Research Highlights on 24 Jun 2026.
The item focuses on Effect of a patient-driven perioperative intervention on health literacy: A stepped-wedge cluster randomised sub-study.
Review the original article for the full source wording and details.