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Separate Written Consent for Anaesthesia:What Does the Patient Perceive of it? An Observational Study from Rural India


Affiliations
1 Department of Anaesthesia, AIIMS, Rishikesh, India
2 Department of Anaesthesia, Kalpana Chawla Government Medical College, Karnal, Haryana, India
3 Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Himalayan Institute of Medical Sciences, Jollygrant, Dehradun, India
 

Background: Obtaining a separate consent for anaesthesia is rather new in medical practice and remains a subject of debate. Despite adequate disclosure by anaesthesiologists, obtaining separate written consent for anaesthesia is not easy. Therefore, this study was planned to evaluate patient's knowledge and perception of separate written consent for anaesthesia in a rural part of India.

Methods and Materials: This prospective, single-centre, nonrandomized, observational study was conducted in a tertiary care medical college hospital in a rural part of India. Patients undergoing elective surgery from 01 December 2015 to 31 January 2016 were included in this study. Each of the patients was asked to fill a questionnaire having two parts with seven questions each. A correct answer was awarded one mark while wrong answers were given zero marks.

Results: Out of 200 participants, only 124 (62%) knew that they should fully read and understand anaesthesia consent from before signing it. Similarly only 35.5% patients knew that they could inquire about the benefits of proposed anaesthesia technique over other available options.

Conclusions: Patients lack awareness about separate consent for anaesthesia and about vital role; they are supposed to play in anaesthesia related decision-making.


Keywords

Anaesthesia Consent, Patient's Perception, Questionnaire.
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  • Separate Written Consent for Anaesthesia:What Does the Patient Perceive of it? An Observational Study from Rural India

Abstract Views: 411  |  PDF Views: 110

Authors

Deepak Singla
Department of Anaesthesia, AIIMS, Rishikesh, India
Gunjan Chaudhry
Department of Anaesthesia, Kalpana Chawla Government Medical College, Karnal, Haryana, India
Jagdish Dureja
Department of Anaesthesia, Kalpana Chawla Government Medical College, Karnal, Haryana, India
Mishu Mangla
Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Himalayan Institute of Medical Sciences, Jollygrant, Dehradun, India

Abstract


Background: Obtaining a separate consent for anaesthesia is rather new in medical practice and remains a subject of debate. Despite adequate disclosure by anaesthesiologists, obtaining separate written consent for anaesthesia is not easy. Therefore, this study was planned to evaluate patient's knowledge and perception of separate written consent for anaesthesia in a rural part of India.

Methods and Materials: This prospective, single-centre, nonrandomized, observational study was conducted in a tertiary care medical college hospital in a rural part of India. Patients undergoing elective surgery from 01 December 2015 to 31 January 2016 were included in this study. Each of the patients was asked to fill a questionnaire having two parts with seven questions each. A correct answer was awarded one mark while wrong answers were given zero marks.

Results: Out of 200 participants, only 124 (62%) knew that they should fully read and understand anaesthesia consent from before signing it. Similarly only 35.5% patients knew that they could inquire about the benefits of proposed anaesthesia technique over other available options.

Conclusions: Patients lack awareness about separate consent for anaesthesia and about vital role; they are supposed to play in anaesthesia related decision-making.


Keywords


Anaesthesia Consent, Patient's Perception, Questionnaire.

References