Singh Gurminder, Gambhir Ramandeep Singh, Singh Simarpreet, Talwar Puneet Singh, Munjal Vaibhav
Department of Prosthodontics, Gian Sagar Dental College and Hospital, Rajpura, Punjab, India.
Public Health Dentistry, Gian Sagar Dental College and Hospital, Rajpura, Punjab, India.
Indian J Dent. 2014 Jul;5(3):146-51. doi: 10.4103/0975-962X.140831.
The medical profession has been included in the Consumer Protection Act (CPA), to protect the interests of the patients in case of any unethical treatment rendered by the doctor. The present systematic review was conducted to assess the knowledge and awareness of CPA among dental professionals in India.
A systematic review of relevant cross-sectional observational studies was conducted regarding the level of knowledge and awareness of CPA among dental professionals in India. Five studies out of 44 were finally included in the present review, after conducting both an electronic and manual search of scientific databases. The potential biases were reported and appropriate data was extracted by the concerned investigators.
More than 90% of the study subjects in one of the studies were aware of the CPA, as compared to other studies. In two studies, when queried about the correct time period during which a patient can sue a doctor, very few subjects (18 and 23.2%) answered correctly. Almost 90% of the subjects were taking some form of consent in one of the studies. Private practitioners had more awareness as compared to academicians and combined practitioners.
The results of the present review showed that a majority of the subjects were aware of the existence of CPA, but knowledge about the basic rules and regulations was lacking in a few studies. Therefore, dental professionals need to keep themselves updated on the various rules and latest amendments to save themselves from any litigation.
医疗行业已被纳入《消费者保护法》（CPA），以防医生提供任何不道德治疗时保护患者的利益。本系统评价旨在评估印度牙科专业人员对CPA的知识和认识。
对有关印度牙科专业人员对CPA的知识和认识水平的相关横断面观察性研究进行系统评价。在对科学数据库进行电子和人工检索后，44项研究中的5项最终被纳入本评价。报告了潜在的偏倚，并由相关研究人员提取了适当的数据。
与其他研究相比，其中一项研究中超过90%的研究对象知晓CPA。在两项研究中，当被问及患者可以起诉医生的正确时间段时，很少有受试者（分别为18%和23.2%）回答正确。在其中一项研究中，近90%的受试者采取了某种形式的同意。与院校教师和综合从业者相比，私人执业者的知晓度更高。
本评价结果表明，大多数受试者知晓CPA的存在，但少数研究缺乏对基本规则和条例的了解。因此，牙科专业人员需要不断更新自己对各种规则和最新修正案的了解，以免陷入任何诉讼。
