Effect of a Multidisciplinary Educational Course on Health Literacy and Satisfaction of Patients Undergoing Keratoplasty

Background: Keratoplasty is a surgical procedure in which part or all of a damaged or diseased cornea is replaced by healthy corneal tissue from a donor. The study aimed to evaluate the effect of a multidisciplinary education course on the health literacy and satisfaction of patients undergoing keratoplasty. This study was carried out at the Ophthalmology department and outpatient clinics at Assiut University hospital. The sample of the study was a purposive sample of 60 adult and elderly patients (30 study group and 30 for the control group) undergoing corneal transplantation surgery. Tools of data collection included four tools, (1) patient’s interview questionnaire sheet, (2) patient's knowledge assessment & observation checklist, (3) health literacy questionnaire, (4) patient satisfaction with nursing care quality questionnaire. The main results of this study revealed the majority of patients in the two groups were diagnosed with keratoconus, performed Full-thickness (penetrating) keratoplasty for optical reasons. There was a highly statistically significant difference between both the study and control of patients regarding health literacy score. Half of the patients in the control group have poor satisfaction level while the majority of the study group patients (83.3%) have a very good satisfaction level post educational course application. There was a positive correlation between patients’ knowledge & health literacy and patient satisfaction (P. <0.001). The main recommendation is to establish a patient education center in the ophthalmology department to provide patients with the needed information before performing the keratoplasty.