Patient's Awareness, Attitude, Understanding and Perceptions towards Legal Nature of Informed Consent

Patient's autonomy is an imperative issue in the health service area. It is a known fact that patient's awareness of legal and ethical issues related to the consent process is often limited. The present study was therefore conducted to ascertain patient's awareness, attitude and perceptions towards Legal nature of informed consent. A structured interview schedule was developed and handed out to 555 patients in the Surgery department during January 2011 to June 2011. A great deal of misconception regarding the legal status of consent was seen. 88% of participants believed that they had no right to change their mind after signing the consent. 61.6% trusted their doctor to do the right thing and did not mind what happened to them provided they were made better. Level of understanding was satisfactory in only 32% of patients. The study concludes that there exists a vast discrepancy between the informed consent that perceived by patients. Current consent procedures seem inadequate as a means for the expression of autonomous choice and their ethical standing can be called into question.