PERSONAL HEALTH : Information Is Good Medicine

Heading for the operating room? You might want to take notes first.

Patients “coached” through surgery with specific instructions about what to expect recover faster, found a UC Davis research team.

In a study, research psychologist Henry L. Bennett and his colleagues gave two sets of instructions to patients undergoing abdominal operations for cancer, bowel problems and other disorders. The 20 patients in the control group received general information about the operation and reassurance that things would go well.

The 20 in the experimental group received much more specific instructions about the importance of recovery. To these, Bennett said: “We want your stomach and intestines to move, churn and gurgle soon after surgery.” The sooner that happens, he told them, the quicker normal functioning would return--and the speedier their return to regular foods--including their favorite dishes.

The average hospital stay for the patients getting specific instructions was 6.5 days, compared to 8.1 for the control group.

That meant a savings of $1,200 per patient, says Bennett, who published the findings earlier this year in the Western Journal of Medicine. Not bad, he adds, for the 15-minute time investment with each patient. “It’s so simple to do,” he adds.