Understanding the Preferred Learning Styles of Urogynecology Patients

Importance Patient comprehension is paramount to treatment options counseling in urogynecology. This study investigates how patients prefer to receive information in a learning environment. Objective This study aimed to understand the learning preferences of patients presenting to a urogynecology clinic. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional survey study of patients presenting to an outpatient academic urogynecology clinic. The primary objective was to identify patient learning styles using the Visual, Aural, Read/write, Kinesthetic (VARK) Learning Style Questionnaire. Secondary objectives included determining predictive characteristics of learning styles such as age, race, education level, socioeconomic status, and patient's self-identified learning style. Results Of 125 participants, most were multimodal (60%) preferring a combination of learning styles. Twenty percent of patients were categorized as kinesthetic learners, 10% reading/writing, 7% aural, and 2% visual. Forty-three percent correctly identified their learning style, and an additional 26% partially identified their learning style. When assessing predictors of learning style, visual and kinesthetic learners were younger. Aural learners had a higher proportion of Black and Latina representation. Visual and reading/writing learners all had at least some college education. Conclusions Among patients presenting to a urogynecology clinic, a range of learning preferences was identified, with the majority of patients having a preference for multimodal learning with the majority accurately identifying one or more modalities of their learning style. Given the high rate of multimodal learning, providers should consider having multiple modalities in which information can be provided to urogynecology patients.