A tertiary hospital study on standard versus simplified consent forms for cataract surgery: Is there a perceptible or imperceptible influence on surgery decision-making?

Abstract

Purpose: The aim of the study was to investigate the standard versus simplified consent forms (CFs) for cataract surgery to see if there was a difference that influenced patients’ surgery decisions. Methods: Four hundred patients scheduled for elective cataract surgery at a tertiary hospital between March 1, 2022, and June 30, 2022, were investigated. Patients signed the CFs on the day of surgery, either independently or with the assistance of a companion. Demographic data were collected, including age, gender, educational level, prior surgery, and whether or not they were alone. Results: The simplified CFs were far more likely to be read than the standard CFs, and the reading rate increased significantly with educational level (P < 0.001). No significant influential difference existed in the CF reading between patients reading independently and those assisted by companions (P = 0.139). The simplified CFs influenced surgery-related patients’ decisions the most (P < 0.001). Conclusion: In the CFs, a relatively simple, easily readable, and comprehensible language appears to have a significant perceptible, or at least imperceptible, influence on patients’ surgery decisions.