KUMJ | VOL. 3 | NO. 3 | ISSUE 11 | JULY-SEPT, 2005
Informed consent: Is it really understood?
Gongal R, Bhattarai P
Abstract: Pre-operative counselling is an important part of the care that we give to our patients undergoing surgery. It
ensures that the patients understand about their disease and the procedure that they are undergoing. This
study was done with the objective of finding whether or not the patients do actually understand what has
been explained to them. This is a prospective study done in the form of a survey with a set questionnaire in
two hospitals in Kathmandu namely Patan hospital and Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital. The
patients surveyed were those who were admitted for elective surgery after counselling has been done and
consent forms signed. The result showed that the level of understanding was poor in 11%, unsatisfactory in
33%, satisfactory in 37% and excellent in 19%. The level of understanding was affected by the education
level of the patients. To conclude, the level of understanding was unsatisfactory in nearly half the patients.
Only 19% had optimal understanding. This may reflect the education level of the many of our patients but
it clearly points out that the medical profession needs to make more effort to make the patients understand
more about their disease process. This can be said to be a reflection of our quality of care
Keyword : informed consent, autonomy, understanding, and education level
