Patients' expectations and experiences of provided surgery-related patient education: A descriptive longitudinal study.

Patients (N = 697, 49% male, mean age 64.1 [SD 12.6] years) perceived the provided education as useful and satisfactory but less so after discharge. Most common topics which they expected more education about were postoperative complications, pain management, fatigue, lack of stamina and expected recovery time. Most patients received information through face-to-face teaching (79.7%) and in writing (78.4%). Expectations on recovery were related to patients' satisfaction with the education and how useful they evaluated it.