Patients undergoing surgery for lumbar spinal stenosis have many preoperative educational expectations due to the complexity of the care pathway. Although empowering patient education (EPE) has proven effective in many patient groups, no previous literature exists 
on its use in spinal stenosis patients. 

The purpose of the present study was (A) to describe the use of knowledge tests in patient education, and (B) to assess the impact of a specific patient education intervention on the empowerment of patients undergoing surgery for lumbar spinal stenosis. The aim was to improve the quality of patient education in this patient group. 

In this randomised controlled double blinded clinical trial, 100 spinal stenosis patients were randomised into either the intervention group (IG) or the control group (CG). The intervention (Knowledge Test Feedback Intervention, KTFI) was conducted on an average 9 days before surgery, and consisted of an empowering telephone discourse based on a specifically designed knowledge test (KNOWBACK Test). Primary outcome variables were (A) preoperative knowledge level (cognitive outcome), and (B) preoperative anxiety (clinical outcome). As secondary outcomes, verbal and visual understanding of the surgical procedure as well as health-related quality of life (HRQoL), disability and pain were measured. The data were gathered at admission to hospital, at discharge, and at three and six months after surgery. 

A significantly higher preoperative knowledge level was noted in the IG compared to the CG. Preoperative anxiety reduced more in the IG than in the CG, but there was no statistically significant difference between the study groups at any of the measuring time points. Verbal and visual understanding of the surgical procedure increased in both study groups during follow-up with no significant differences between the groups. Similarly, HRQoL, disability and pain improved in both groups after surgery; the differences between the groups were not statistically significant. 

In conclusion, empowering knowledge feedback was an effective preoperative patient education method in increasing the patients´ knowledge level. Our results suggest that it may reduce preoperative anxiety. However, this finding did not reach statistical significance between the two study groups. The increased knowledge level was not reflected in the clinical outcome of surgery.