Objective: This study maps the contents of departmental informational letters and explores whether the national GynOp letters live up to the patients’ expectations and needs. Introduction: Patients who are well informed before undergoing surgery experience reduced stress and increased understanding of the postoperative process. Although providing patients with written information before gynecological surgery is widely used and assumed important, no study has investigated what information patients truly need. Methods: In 2014, all 59 gynecological departments in Sweden were asked to provide the information letter they send to patients before hysterectomy on benign indication. 32 letters were analyzed using frequency analysis. In addition, three focus groups were conducted and these data were submitted to Qualitative Content Analysis. Results: The analysis of the information letters showed great variation and discrepancy in pre-operative information. The analysis of the focus groups resulted in the theme You can’t see the forest for the trees, reflecting that, the women found it very difficult to identify the most important information among the massive amount information received. Conclusions: The informational letters did not meet the patients’ expectations and needs. Practice implications: This study could serve as a foundation for the content of informational letters.
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