Utilization of a Parental Approach to Informed Consent in Intravenous Tissue Plasminogen Activator Administration Decision-Making: Patient Preference and Ethical Considerations

OBJECTIVE: While administration of intravenous tissue plasminogen activator (IV-tPA) is the standard of care in acute ischemic stroke and has been shown to have statistically significant benefit, there can also be potentially life-threatening complications; however, there is no standard informed consent approach. The purpose of this study was to present a parental, technical, and general model of informed consent for IV-TPA and to determine which approach was preferred. METHODS: Survey respondents were asked to hypothetically decide whether or not to provide consent for their family member to receive IV-tPA. Respondents were presented with 3 informed consent models: one emphasizing parental qualities, one emphasizing statistical data, and one representing a general consent statement. After being presented each model, the respondents had to select their preferred consent model, as well as rate their level of agreeability toward their family member receiving the medication following each approach. RESULTS: The results of 184 surveys showed respondents were equally as likely to give consent for their family member to receive IV-TPA following all three approaches; however, respondents were significantly more likely to prefer the parental approach compared to a technical or general approach. CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that while paternalism is generally discouraged in the medical community, some degree of parental language may be preferred by patients in tough decision-making situations toward consent to receive medical interventions.