Abstract: Objective: To investigate the quality of discharge teaching service, readiness for hospital discharge, and post-discharge health outcomes of cataract patients in the day surgery ward, and to explore the relationships among these variables. Methods: This cross-sectional study design employed a convenience sample of 194 cataract patients from the ophthalmic day surgery ward in a tertiary level general hospital in Sichuan province from October 2017 to January 2018. The general information questionnaire, Quality of Discharge Teaching Scale (QDTS), Readiness for Hospital Discharge Scale (RHDS) and Post-discharge Health Outcome Questionnaire were used for the survey. Results: A total of 194 patients completed the study, and 185 (95.40%) patients answered that they had been ready to leave the hospital on the day of discharge. The median score of quality of discharge teaching service, readiness for hospital discharge, and post-discharge health outcomes were 196.00, 179.50 and 78.00, respectively. Two weeks after discharge, the median visual acuity of the patients was 0.80, and no complications occurred. However, 36 (18.56%) patients had eye discomfort. It was found that the score of quality of discharge teaching service was positively correlated with the score of readiness for hospital discharge (r=0.59, P<0.001).The score of readiness for hospital discharge had a positive correlation with the score of post-discharge health outcomes (r=0.27, P<0.001), and the score of quality of discharge teaching service was also correlated with the score of post-discharge health outcomes (r=0.25, P=0.001). Conclusion: Cataract patients in the day surgery ward receive good quality of discharge teaching service. Their readiness for discharge and post-discharge health outcomes are good, too. However, the discharge teaching content provided to patients couldn't fully meet their needs. Therefore, we as medical workers should pay more attention to the patients' individualized needs of discharge teaching service, and evaluate their understanding of the discharge teaching content. Meanwhile, we should emphasize the importance of compliance behaviors to patients in order to better prevent complications and promote postoperative rehabilitation.

Key words: cataract; day surgery; quality of discharge teaching service; readiness for hospital discharge; post-discharge health outcomes