An evidence-based educational protocol for adult patients awaiting colposcopy

Introduction: Colposcopy is a gynaecological invasive day procedure involving visualization of cervix for diagnostic and therapeutic purpose. Women who are waiting for this procedure often experience high anxiety. Several studies have demonstrated that adopting pre-colposcopy patient education strategy can relieve such psychological distress. In this translational research, a relevant evidence-based education guideline is formulated for a colposcopy clinic in a local public hospital. Objectives: The objectives of this translational research proposal include (1) extracting the current empirical evidence on the education intervention for minimizing the psychological distress among women waiting for their first colposcopy examination; (2) developing an educational protocol; (3) and developing a plan of intervention and evaluation for the proposed protocol. Methods: A literature search for studies dealing with patient education of women at risk of cervical cancer was performed in PubMed and PsycINFO. After data extraction from the identified studies, the methodology quality of the studies was appraised by the methodology checklist of Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) (2011). Then, an evidence-based protocol was formulated according to the recommendations drawn from the evidence. Before putting the protocol into practice, a systematic implementation potential assessment was done by evaluating the transferability of the findings, and the feasibility and cost-benefit ratio of the protocol. Both communication and evaluation plan were developed for a smooth implementation of the protocol. Results: 10 studies fulfilled the inclusion criteria of the literature search and were used for developing an evidence-based protocol of pre-colposcopy patient education. After the assessment, distributing written and audio-visual education materials at patients’ first colposcopy appointment is concluded to be a feasible innovation in the target setting. Conclusion: Based on the extracted evidence from the systematical review, patient education strategy can potentially benefit the first-time colposcopy patient in the target setting to alleviate their anxiety during their wait for the examination.published_or_final_versionNursing StudiesMasterMaster of Nursin