How informed is the informed consent?

BACKGROUND: Informed consent is a cornerstone of the ethics of modern medical care. In an ideal world, informed consent is a process of education – a conversation between a surgeon and a patient or family that allows the patient or family to make the best possible decision regarding care. OBJECTIVE: The study was conducted with objectives of assessing information given to the patient before taking consent for surgery and determining the compliance to various contents of the consent forms. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This was a prospective study over a period of 12 weeks in wards of various surgical departments of a 1000+ bedded tertiary care hospital. Patient interviews were conducted to assess their level of information and the consent forms were reviewed to assess the compliance. OBSERVATIONS: The overall level of information r4egarding various aspects among the participants was 75.14%. The level of information varied statistically with age, literacy level, annual income and the type of surgery. All the patients (100%) stated that they were informed about the current clinical condition/ problem, while only 34% were informed about risk and 26% about the alternative options. All the forms (100%) had a statement regarding the explanation of procedure to the patient/ guardian and none of the forms (0%) contained names of all practitioners performing the procedure. CONCLUSION: There is need to create awareness among doctors and also to educate patients regarding the importance of informed consent.