Does written informed consent adequately inform surgical patients? A cross sectional study

BMC Medical Ethics

Table 5 Effects of the written IC and the oral information on the patient’s decision making (n = 444)

	n	%
Written IC and oral information influenced the decision to proceed to the surgery?^a
A lot	41	9.2
Somewhat	46	10.4
A little	48	10.8
No	309	69.6
Total	444	100.0
Which one mainly influenced your decision?^a
Oral information	90	66.7
Both	28	20.7
I don’t know	14	10.4
Written IC form	3	2.2
Total	135	100.0
Compared to the information received. What would you want to know?^b
More	55	10.5
No more, no less	464	88.2
Less	7	1.3
Total	526	100.0
Have you had the opportunity to ask any questions?
Yes, and I had exhaustive answers	361	64.4
Not asked questions	183	32.7
Yes, without satisfactory answers	16	2.9
Total	560	100.0
Consequences of the received information^b
Relief/Improvement in symptoms	262	49.8
Indifference	142	27.0
Anxiety/Worsening of the symptoms	122	23.2
Total	526	100.0

^aincluding only those who received both written consent and oral information and only those whose decision had been influenced
^bincluding only those who received further oral information

ISSN: 1472-6939