Intervention Strategies for Improving Patient Knowledge in Spine Surgery: A Systematic Review

Introduction: Effective preoperative education is critical for optimizing patient outcomes in neurological surgery. It allows the opportunity to address patient expectations, improve disease knowledge, and health literacy. This review aims to evaluate the intervention strategies used preoperatively to improve patient knowledge before undergoing spine surgery.

Methods: A comprehensive literature search was conducted using MEDLINE, Embase, and Scopus databases. Studies were included if they involved adult patients undergoing spine surgery and evaluated preoperative education interventions such as in-person counseling, printed materials, digital health tools (i.e., apps, websites), or multimedia resources (i.e., video). Outcomes assessed included patient knowledge of surgical and postoperative care procedures and patient satisfaction. Screening and data extraction were performed independently by two reviewers.

Results: A total of 11 studies with a cumulative 1,523 patients met inclusion criteria, with sample sizes ranging from 14 to 741 patients. Patients had a broad range of surgical indications and procedures, including lumbar disc herniation, cervical disc herniation, and posterior fusion. Over 70% utilized a digital health or multimedia component, while 27% utilized an in-person component alone. For the primary outcome of patient knowledge, 64% of included studies reported significant improvement in patients receiving the intervention. In addition, 73% found significant increases in patients’ satisfaction with their preparation and feeling informed about their disease, surgery, and postoperative care.

Conclusion : This review demonstrates that preoperative education, particularly using a combination of written and interactive strategies, may improve disease knowledge and patient satisfaction in spine surgery. Standardizing protocols may further enhance these benefits across patient populations. Future studies should focus on how education levels and socioeconomic status affect the efficacy of these strategies to establish evidence-based guidelines for spine surgery patients.