Abstract
It is becoming increasingly common to enable a woman to see her ambulatory hysteroscopy procedure on a monitor. However, there is only limited evidence on the potential impact of seeing or not seeing the procedure on patient mood, perception of pain, and patient–physician interaction. This randomized controlled trial compared the effects of seeing or not seeing the screen during an outpatient hysteroscopy procedure on patient’s experience. At two outpatient clinics, 157 women scheduled for a hysteroscopy procedure were randomized either to see the screen (n = 81) or not to see the screen (n = 76). Before and after the procedure, the patients completed questionnaires to evaluate various parameters of their experience (mood, pain perception, illness cognitions, and communication with the health professional). After the initial study, the analysis was repeated using a local anesthetic to control for the potential impact of this covariate on the experience of the patients for whom this was measured [screen on(n = 51) and screen off (n = 54)].The data showed that seeing the screen or not had no effect on changes in mood, perception of pain, several parameters of illness cognitions, and patient–physician communication with respect to patient involvement, affect and information giving. Women who did not see the screen, however, had greater confidence in the effectiveness of their treatment and reported that the health professional was more receptive to their views during the consultation. After adjustment for the use of a local anesthetic, anxiety was decreased more after the procedure in women who did not see the screen.The investigators conclude from these findings that viewing the procedure is not beneficial to the patient and may be detrimental to patient–physician communication.