Understanding the Preferred Learning Styles of Urogynecology Patients

Objectives: The objective of this study is to understand the learning preferences of patients presenting to urogynecology clinic.

Methods: We conducted an IRB-exempt cross-sectional survey study of patients presenting to an outpatient academic urogynecology clinic. All English and Spanish-speaking patients were included; incarcerated patients were excluded. The primary objective was to identify learning styles using the Visual, Aural, Read/write, Kinesthetic (VARK) Learning Style Questionnaire, which categorizes learning as visual, aural, reading/writing, kinesthetic or multimodal (combination of the styles). Secondary objectives included determining predictive characteristics of learning styles such as age, education level and patient’s self-identified learning style.

Results: Of 125 participants, the average age was 62 years, with 77% White, 16% Black, 7% Hispanic, 0.8% American Indian/Alaska Native, and 0.8% multiracial. Most patients (98.6%) were English speaking, while 3.2% were Spanish-speaking. The majority (77%) reported some college education or greater, with 35% having full or part-time employment and 43% retired. For our primary outcome of VARK scores, 2% of patients were categorized as visual learners, 7% aural, 10% reading/writing, 20% kinesthetic and 60% multimodal. When asking patients what they thought their learning style was, 43% correctly identified their learning style. An additional 26% partially identified their learning style, defined as if they identified as a single learning style but were actually multimodal and included the identified learning style. Among those who self-identified as visual learners, 43% were actually kinesthetic and 43% were multimodal. All self-identified kinesthetic learners were actually multimodal. Among self-identified aural learners, 67% were multimodal; and similarly of those who self-identified as reading/writing, 54% were multimodal. 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. Insurance and employment status were more evenly distributed within each learning style.

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. There were some demographic patterns seen within the unique learning styles. The majority of patients either completely or partially identified their actual learning styles as measured on the VARK questionnaire. Given the high rate of multimodal learning, providers should consider having multiple modalities in which information can be delivered and processed. Understanding the range of patient learning styles can improve patient counseling and understanding of their conditions and treatment options.