The Weakness of Will: The Role of Free Will in Treatment Adherence

Chronic disease prevention and management requires a lifelong commitment and adherence to lifestyle modifications, monitoring of symptoms, medication use, and other forms of therapy. Treatment adherence is a crucial and complex concept in patient care provision, and it requires the voluntary active involvement of patients for the best possible outcome. Multiple factors, which may or may not be under the patient's control, can influence treatment adherence. However, adherence or non-adherence to a certain treatment is predominantly influenced by one's sense of agency, values, beliefs, attitudes, and willpower. It is evident that mental states appear to influence patients' decision-making, and the best treatment outcome occurs when a patient identifies their goals, needs, and desires and exercises their decision-making and free will during the course of receiving care. The role of healthcare providers is critical in promoting treatment adherence, thereby enhancing patient outcomes. Thus, this paper highlights the importance of promoting a sense of agency and integrating patients' values, beliefs, attitudes, and intentions during the provision of healthcare. It is indispensable to recognize the individual's ability and initiative to control and manage their illness in the face of challenging socioeconomic and cultural reality. On logical grounds, it is not enough to appreciate the value of free will and mental states, it is also essential to empower and cultivate an individual patient's willpower to make a well-informed, free decision based on their mental state for the most optimal treatment outcomes

The Effect of an Individualized Education Intervention versus Usual Care on Pain following Ambulatory Inguinal Hernia Repair

Inguinal hernia repair (IHR) is a common ambulatory surgery procedure performed in Canada, after which many patients experience moderate to severe pain. Limited research has been found that examines interventions to reduce pain following ambulatory surgery, and none specifically for patients undergoing IHR. This trial evaluated the effectiveness of an individualized Hernia Repair Education Intervention (HREI) for patients following this ambulatory surgery. Participants (N= 82) were randomized to either the intervention or usual care group pre-operatively in the pre-admission clinic. The HREI included a booklet about managing pain and face-to-face session to discuss its content, and two telephone support calls (before surgery and 24 hours after surgery). The primary outcome was WORST 24 hour pain intensity on movement on post-operative day 2. Secondary outcomes included pain intensity at rest and movement, pain–related interference with activities, pain quality, analgesics taken, and adverse effects at post-operative days 2 and 7. At day 2, the intervention group reported significantly lower scores for all pain intensity outcomes, including WORST 24hr pain on movement (t (df) = 4.7 (73), p< 0.001), WORST 24 hr pain at rest (t (df) = 3.8 (73), p < 0.001), pain NOW at rest (t (df) = 3.3 (73), p = 0.001) and on movement (t (df) = 3.4 (73), p = 0.001). Also on day 2, pain-related interference scores for the intervention group were lower than the usual care group but not significantly different with the bonferroini correction (t (df) = 2.1 (73), p=0.04). The intervention group took significantly fewer opioids on day 2 (t (df) = 3.0 (73), p=0.004). Although there were no differences in any of the pain or interference outcomes on day 7, 36% (n=26) of the total sample reported moderate-severe pain at day 7. Constipation was the adverse effect identified most often, by both groups, on both days 2 and 7.This intervention was effective at post-operative day 2 but revisions need to be made to the intervention to assess for outcomes over a longer period of time.Ph

Pain and haemorrhage are the most common reasons for emergency department use and hospital admission in adults following ambulatory surgery: results of a population-based cohort study

Abstract Background Advances in healthcare delivery have allowed for the increase in the number of ambulatory surgery procedures performed in Canada. Despite these advances, patients return to hospital following discharge. However, the reason for unplanned healthcare use after ambulatory surgery in Canada is not well understood. Aims To examine unplanned healthcare use, specifically emergency department visit and hospital admissions, in the 3 days after ambulatory surgery in Ontario, Canada. Methods This population-based retrospective cohort study was conducted using de-identified administrative databases. Participants were residents in the province of Ontario, Canada; 18 years and older; and underwent common ambulatory surgical procedures between 2014 and 2018. The outcomes included emergency department (ED) visit and hospital admission. Incidence rates were calculated for the total cohort, for each patient characteristic and for surgical category. The odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals were calculated for each outcome using bivariate and multivariate logistic regression. Results 484,670 adults underwent select common surgical procedures during the study period. Patients had healthcare use in the first 3 days after surgery, with 14,950 (3.1%) ED visits and 14,236 (2.9%) admissions. The incidence of ED use was highest after tonsillectomy (8.1%), cholecystectomy (4.2%) and appendectomy (4.0%). Incidence of admissions was highest after appendectomy (21%). Acute pain (19.7%) and haemorrhage (14.2%) were the most frequent reasons for an ED visit and “convalescence following surgery” (49.2%) followed by acute pain (6.2%) and haemorrhage (4.5%) were the main reasons for admission. Conclusions These findings can assist clinicians in identifying and intervening with patients at risk of healthcare use after ambulatory surgery. Pain management strategies that can be tailored to the patient, and earlier follow-up for some patients may be required. In addition, administrative decision-makers could use the results to estimate the impact of specific ambulatory procedures on hospital resources for planning and allocation of resources