Abstract
Background:
Informed consent is an integral part of patient oriented care. The Irish Society of Chartered Physiothreapists (ISCP), Health Service Executive and the World Confederation of Physical Therapy have published guidelines outlining the legal and ethical requirement for obtaining consent. The topic has not been the focus of any published physiotherapy research within Ireland. The aim of this study was to investigate Chartered Physiotherapists’ attitudes and practices in relation to the consent process.
Objectives:
- To investigate the beliefs and attitudes of chartered physiotherapists’ towards the purpose of gaining consent.
- To explore physiotherapists’ beliefs of what informed consent should entail.
- To compare adherence of the consent process to ISCP guidelines.
Method:
The study was cross-sectional, an anonymous questionnaire was distributed by e-mail. The questionnaire which contained 26 statements relating to consent, was administered to chartered physiotherapists in Ireland. The questionnaire was a slightly modified version of that previously used and validated by Jamjoom et al., (2010). Questions address the process of gaining informed consent, attitudes towards informed consent and practice in obtaining consent in daily physiotherapy practice. The questionnaire was circulated by e-mail to all members of the ISCP mailing list excluding student members, retired members and those in education.
Results:
Of the 2520 questionnaires distributed, only 187 were returned yielding a 7.4% response rate. The demographics of the respondents in this study were similar to the demographics of the ISCP population. Most respondents (94%) believe the main purpose of consent is to respect patients autonomy. Additionally, 98% of respondents agreed that informed consent should entail what the procedure involves and what it aims to achieve. The majority, 80% of respondents gain consent in practice, however, it appears that 19% do not adhere to current guidelines for gaining consent prior to assessment and 24% do not gain consent prior to treatment.
Study Limitations:
The small sample size limits the ability to determine whether results are representative of ISCP physiotherapists. Responder bias may have meant only those interested in the topic replied. The low response rate may suggest that alternative methods may be needed to gather information.
Ethics:
Ethical approval was granted by the Trinity School of Medicine Ethics committee in October 2015.
Conclusion:
The majority of respondents had good knowledge of the purpose of consent and components of the process. However, there appears to be a minority of practitioners who are not adhering to guidelines. This shows that knowledge alone is not sufficient to change behaviour and should be considered in future research. Given the importance of this issue, further research into the area is needed to determine whether more education is warranted in relation to this topic in order to ensure patient autonomy is respected.
References:
Jamjoom, A.A., White, S., Walton, S.M., Hardman, J.G. & Moppett, I.K. (2010) Anaesthetists' and surgeons' attitudes towards Informed Consent in the UK: an observational study. BMC medical ethics, 11(1): 2.
Authors:
Anna O’ Neill, Joice Cunningham, Marese Cooney
Acknowledgements:
The work was undertaken as an undergraduate group project, also involved in data gathering were; Leona Bourke, Rachel Chinedum, Orlagh Gaynor, Aaron Keane, Elaine McGuinness, Olivia Mulkerrrin, Mike Murphy & Ellen Shaw.
