Informed consent: how informed are patients?

BACKGROUND

By casual interaction with patients our impression was that patients lacked adequate knowledge about their ailments and surgical treatment. There is now increasing educational exposure and legal awareness in the society.

AIM

To reassess the extent of the practice of "informed consent" expose failures if any, and make appropriate recommendation.

METHODS

A written questionnaire, randomly distributed to patients, sought to find out to what extent patients admitted into the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH) were adequately informed about their ailments and the implications of surgical treatment.

RESULTS

One hundred and fifty patients were randomly recruited into the study and all responded to the questionnaire. Majority of the patients (75%) knew their diagnoses. Most patients (63%) did not know the problems that could be associated with their surgery while 75% did not know the complications of anaesthesia.

CONCLUSION

There is need for a closer interaction in communication between patients and their surgeons. This will facilitate the participation of patients in decisions on treatment options and consequently help to maintain a satisfactory standard of practice and reduce litigation following an unfavourable outcome of surgical treatment.