Written Informed Consent: Is It Practiced What Is Being Preached?

The principles of informed consent are often neglected during clinical practice in developing countries. We tried to assess the level of knowledge of doctors with regards to informed consent and whether they adhere to the principles of informed consent in actual practice. Questionnaire based cross-sectional survey was conducted among 150 randomly selected clinical practitioners of various specialty and super-specialty working at Bhopal City of India. The questionnaire comprised of 30 items of fixed-response type (yes/no/can‘t say) testing mainly three attributes – knowledge, attitude and practice. Out of 150 clinical practitioners selected to participate in the survey, 115 completed the survey (Response rate=76.66%). Majority of respondents answered correctly when asked about the fundamental principles of obtaining a valid consent (correct response rate varying from 97.4% to 83.4%). However there was marked disparity between level of knowledge and actual practice with regards to informed consent. Study provides valuable insight into how doctors approach informed consent during their practice. It seems that doctors meet many, but not all, of the legal requirements for informed consent. We recommend regular workshops for doctors, on this important issue.