Randomized controlled trial.

One in five patients undergoing cardiac surgery are readmitted to hospital due to adverse events. Research suggests that a large proportion of adverse events are not caused by the treatment itself but by non-specific psychological factors surrounding the treatment. For example, the way in which adverse event information is presented is suggested to influence patients’ expectations about adverse events, anxiety, and adverse event occurrence. This study investigates how two different ways of presenting adverse event information (‘standard adverse event information’ vs ‘standard adverse event information–elaborated’) influences occurrence of adverse events following cardiac surgery. The primary outcome is proportion of adverse events from a standard list reported 4 days after the surgery.

To investigate whether adverse event occurrence following cardiac surgery is influenced by the way in which adverse event information is presented to patients prior to the surgery.

• Mette Sieg, MSc, PhD Student
  Department of Psychology and Social Sciences, Aarhus University, Denmark
• Lene Vase, MSc PhD DMSc, Professor
  Department of Psychology and Social Sciences, Aarhus University, Denmark
• Mariann Tang, MD PhD, Consultant Cardiac Surgeon
  Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark
• Sigrid Juhl Lunde, MSc, PhD Student
  Department of Psychology and Social Sciences, Aarhus University, Denmark
• Andrew Geers, MSc PhD, Professor
  Department of Psychology, University of Toledo, United States
• Luana Colloca, MD PhD MS
  Departments of Pain and Translational Symptoms Science, University of Maryland, United States