Multimedia Patient Education Tools in the Emergency Department: A Scoping Review

Effective physician–patient communication improves adherence and patient comprehension, yet emergency department (ED) patients frequently demonstrate poor understanding of care and discharge instructions. Multimedia education formats are preferred by many patients and may improve knowledge acquisition. Despite this, the use of multimedia patient education tools in emergency medicine remains poorly defined. We asked: What multimedia patient education tools exist in the ED, how are they applied, and what outcomes have been reported?

We conducted a scoping review of multimedia patient education tools in emergency medicine. MEDLINE, Embase, Scopus, Cochrane Library, CINAHL, and ERIC were searched from database inception through March 2025. Inclusion criteria required emergency care setting and use of a multimedia patient education tool; exclusion criteria included abstract-only publications and systematic/scoping reviews. Two reviewers independently screened titles/abstracts and full texts with consensus resolution. Data extraction was completed by one reviewer and verified by a second.

Of 1,401 studies screened, 96 met inclusion criteria. Video was the most commonly used multimedia tool. Adult patients were most frequently targeted, followed by caregivers of pediatric patients. Educational goals included discharge/chief complaint information (51%), public health screening/vaccination (20%), general medical knowledge (13%), informed consent (6%), public safety/injury prevention (5%), ED expectations/patient experience (4%), and other aims (1%). Improvement in outcomes was reported for studies evaluating patient satisfaction (85%), patient/caregiver clinical knowledge acquisition (94%), and acceptance of public health interventions (89%). In contrast, studies assessing improvement in clinical outcomes also demonstrated benefit but less consistently, with improvement reported in only 56% of studies.

Existing multimedia patient education tools in emergency medicine are predominantly video-based and demonstrate consistent improvements in patient satisfaction, knowledge, and acceptance of public health interventions, with less consistent impact on clinical outcomes.