Attitude of Pregnant Patients Toward Informed Consent
The purpose of informed consent is informed and justified patients’ decision-making. OBJECTIVE. The aim was to assess the attitude of pregnant patients toward the application of informed consent in an inpatient health care institution. METHODS. An anonymous questionnaire survey of 304 pregnant women (response rate, 84%) was carried out in the Clinic of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Hospital of Lithuanian University of Health Sciences. RESULTS. Nearly all pregnant women (98%) confirmed that they were aware of the right to information about their health status. More than 90% of the patients indicated that they were more often satisfied with the information received from obstetricians-gynecologists who provided the patients with the information about their health status in an understandable manner in comparison with midwives (P<0.001). The majority (n=237, 77.9%) of the pregnant women were satisfied with the procedure of giving informed consent; however, more than half of the respondents considered this procedure as the physicians’ protection. The informed consent was read before being signed by 230 respondents (75.7%). CONCLUSIONS. Almost all the pregnant patients were aware of the right to information about their health status and satisfied with the procedure of giving informed consent in the health care institution.
Correspondence to I. Poškienė Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Medical Academy, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Eivenių 2, 50028 Kaunas, Lithuania. ingridposk@gmail.com