1Department of Community Medicine, Maharishi Markandeshwar Institute of Medical Sciences, Mullana
2Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, Maharishi Markandeshwar Institute of Medical Sciences, Mullana
To assess the differences in the knowledge and attitudes of doctors and patients regarding the informed consent process in shared decision making.
A cross sectional survey was carried out among physicians performing invasive procedures at a tertiary care hospital between March to June 2011. After institutional approval was obtained cohorts of 125 doctors and 250 patients completed a structured questionnaire on the informed consent process.
Out of total doctors, 81 (64.8%) were men and 44 (35.2%) were women; 98 (78.4%) were specialists/super specialists and 27 (21.6%) were residents. Almost all patients (94.8%) reported that they had chosen the treatment method suggested by doctor. Less than half of physicians 52 (41.6%) reported being fully acquainted with the informed consent process, Significant discrepancy was registered between the answers from patients and physicians to all the questions comparing their experiences regarding the procedure of obtaining informed consent to treatment (p< 0.001).
There exists a vast disagreement between physicians and patients concerning both understanding and knowledge of the informed consent process. The results of this study conform existence of patient-physician communication gap, hence need for physician and patient education programs on the process of informed consent for better communication between doctors and patients.
Patient Rights, Informed Consent, Patients
