RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Informed consent is an integral part of clinical practice. Improper informed consent can lead to mistrust between doctors and patients as well as medico-legal issues. Awareness and knowledge of various aspects of consent is essential in present day medical practice. METHODS: A paper and web-based survey was undertaken to evaluate knowledge about informed consent among doctors. A law and a medical student generated a list of questions based upon available case laws and legislations which were further validated by experts. 500 doctors undertook the survey and of these 457 completed the survey of 18 questions. Both univariate and multivariate models were used to analyze responses. RESULTS: 413 complete questionnaires were included in the analysis. The proportion of respondents furnishing correct responses varied between 49.6% and 93.7%. There were 9 questions for which, over 25% respondents provided inappropriate responses. The questions included those enquiring whether initial consent for diagnostic or therapeutic procedures could apply to extended procedures or surgery and who was capable of giving consent for different procedures. There were significant differences of knowledge between residents and consultants for few questions. The physicians fared worse than surgeons and anesthetists although the difference was not statistically significant. CONCLUSION: Significant knowledge gaps were identified. There were deficiencies in providing correct response particularly in practical scenarios. There is a need to include knowledge about different aspects of informed consent in the medical curriculum.
