What do patients with cerebral aneurysms know about their condition?
OBJECTIVE: During diagnosis and treatment, patients with cerebral aneurysms receive complex medical information. To study what patients know about their condition, we compared patients’ knowledge about their aneurysm-related medical history with information in the medical record. METHODS: Neurosurgery clinic outpatients with cerebral aneurysms were interviewed about their history of subarachnoid hemorrhage, number of aneurysms, aneurysm treatments, and treatment outcomes. Corresponding data were abstracted from the medical record by study personnel. We used kappa scores to assess the agreement between patient responses and the medical record. RESULTS: The 178 study patients were predominantly women (71%), with a mean age of 54.4 years. The medical record showed that 56% of patients currently harbored an unsecured aneurysm, 53% had experienced a subarachnoid hemorrhage, 29% had multiple aneurysms, and 68% had undergone previous surgical or endovascular aneurysm treatment. Patient respon
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