Informed consent: a shared decision-making process that creates a new professional obligation for care

Informed consent in gynecological oncology: a JAGO/NOGGO survey on real-world practices in daily clinical routine

PURPOSE

Informed consent is a quintessential element of contemporary medicine, reflecting the fundamental right of patients to participate in decision-making regarding their health. Despite its critical importance, there is a lack of data on real-world practices regarding patient informed consent in the context of modern, high-pressure medical environments.

METHODS

We conducted a multinational multicentric survey from February 24, 2022, to September 14, 2022, investigating the practices and challenges surrounding informed consent in hospitals across Germany, Austria, and Switzerland with the use of a specifically developed questionnaire.

RESULTS

Drawing on over 200 responses from gynecologists, the survey shows a critical need for structured training in conducting informed consent discussions with over 80% of participants expressing interest in courses addressing this aspect. Notably, a considerable portion of the physicians (59.9%) reported conducting discussions on procedures they had never personally witnessed. Significant disparities between types of hospitals and professional groups were observed in the frequency of informed consent discussions, with limitations arising from factors such as time constraints, language barriers, and insufficient resources for patient education. Moreover, the psychological burden experienced by physicians after informed-consent discussions underscores the need for systemic changes to alleviate concerns regarding patient safety, legal repercussions, and patient satisfaction.

CONCLUSION

This study serves as a call to action, emphasizing the need of enhancing resources and support for medical professionals to uphold the principles of empathic and comprehensive patient information and shared decision-making.

TRIAL REGISTRY

DRKS00028295, 25.07.2024.

Enhancing patient informed consent in elective skin cancer surgeries: a comparative study of traditional and digital approaches in a German public hospital

BACKGROUND

This study aims to investigate the integration of modern sources of patient information, such as videos, internet-based resources, and scientific abstracts, into the traditional patient informed consent process in outpatient elective surgeries. The goal is to optimize the informed consent experience, enhance patient satisfaction, and promote shared decision making (SDM) between patients and surgeons. By exploring different patient informed consent formats and their impact on patient satisfaction, this research seeks to improve healthcare practices and ultimately enhance patient outcomes. The findings of this study will contribute to the ongoing efforts to improve the informed consent process in public hospitals and advance patient-centred care.

METHODS

Data collection occurred at the day care clinic of a prominent German public hospital, forming an integral component of a prospective clinical investigation. The study exclusively focused on individuals who had undergone surgical intervention for skin cancer. For the purpose of meticulous data examination, the statistical software SPSS version 21 was harnessed. In the course of this study, a chi-square test was aptly employed. Its purpose was to scrutinize the nuances in patient experiences pertaining to informed consent across four distinct categories, viz., oral informed consent discussion (Oral ICD), written informed consent discussion (Written ICD), video-assisted informed consent discussion (video-assisted ICD), and digitally assisted informed consent discussion (digital-assisted ICD). The primary dataset of this inquiry was diligently gathered via a structured questionnaire administered to a targeted cohort of 160 patients. Within this sample, a balanced representation of genders was observed, encompassing 82 males and 78 females. Their collective age span ranged from 18 to 92 years, with an average age of 71 years. A randomized selection methodology was employed to include participants in this study during the period spanning from July 2017 to August 2018.

RESULTS

Significant differences were observed across the groups for all research questions, highlighting variations in patient responses. Video-assisted and digital-assisted IC were rated as superior in patient satisfaction with information compared to written and oral IC. Demographic profiles of the four study groups were found to be comparable.

CONCLUSION

The findings of this study indicate that the incorporation of digital technologies in the informed consent process can enhance patient understanding during outpatient elective skin cancer surgeries. These results have important implications for increasing patient satisfaction and improving the SDM process within the hospital environment.

An Ethical Analysis of Therapy for Severe Congenital Kidney and Urinary Tract Anomalies

Technological advancements before and after delivery have greatly altered the counseling of pregnant patients facing a fetal diagnosis of severe oligohydramnios or anhydramnios secondary to congenital anomalies of the kidneys and urinary tract. Once considered a nearly uniformly lethal abnormality, long-term survival may now be possible secondary to prenatal innovations aimed at restoring the amniotic fluid volume and the availability of more advanced neonatal dialysis techniques. However, these available therapies are far from perfect. The procedures are onerous for pregnant patients without a guarantee of success, and families must prepare themselves for the complex life-long medical care that will be necessary for surviving individuals. Multidisciplinary counseling is imperative to help pregnant individuals understand the complexity of these conditions and assist them in exercising their right to informed decision-making. Moreover, as with any developing field of medicine, providers must contend with ethical questions related to the treatment options, including questions regarding patient-hood, distributive justice, and the blurred lines between research, innovation, and standard care. These ethical questions are best addressed in a multidisciplinary fashion with consideration of multiple points of view from various subspecialties. Only by seeing the entirety of the picture can we hope to best counsel patients about these highly complex situations and help navigate the most appropriate care path.

Consented maternal care and associated factors among mothers who gave birth at public health institutions in South Wollo Zone, Amhara region, Ethiopia 2022

Introduction

Informed consent in healthcare services is a legal, ethical, and professional requirement on the part of all treating health providers and providing person-centered care. The methods of requesting consent during childbirth have not been extensively studied. In Ethiopia, there is not at all a single study done.

Objective

The purpose of this study is to determine associated factors among mothers who gave birth at health institutions in the South Wollo Zone, Amhara region, Ethiopia in 2022.

Methods

Mothers who gave birth at South Wollo Zone public health institutions, from 01 March to 30 April 2022 participated in a multi-center institutional-based cross-sectional study design. Systematic random sampling was used to select 423 study participants. A validated questionnaire was used for data collection, and the data were collected through face-to-face interviews. Data were entered into Epi-Data version 4.6 and exported to SPSS version 23 for analysis. A multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed to identify factors associated with the outcome variable. The level of significance was determined using an adjusted odds ratio with a 95% confidence interval.

Result

The study had 416 participants in total, with a response rate of 98.3%. Out of the 416 respondents interviewed, 67.1% of the women received consented care. The age group of 30-34, complications during childbirth, intended pregnancy, merchant, and primary and referral hospital were significantly associated with consented care.

Conclusion

The level of non-consented care during delivery was high compared with other literature reflecting substantial mistreatment. Therefore, stakeholders should strengthen monitoring and assessment systems to prevent abuse, and further study is required to look for practical ways to make improvements. Key elements of consented care have also been included in Basic and Emergency Obstetric Care training sessions and given to health providers.

Setting a Patient-Driven Agenda for Cancer Research Priorities in Geriatric Oncology: A Qualitative Study

OBJECTIVES

This study aims to explore older adults' perceptions of priorities for research in cancer and hematological malignancies and proposes an agenda of patient-driven priorities for cancer care research in the field of geriatric oncology.

DATA SOURCES

Sixteen older adults (≥65 years) living with or after a diagnosis of cancer participated in a descriptive qualitative study. Participants were purposively recruited via a regional cancer center and cancer advocacy organizations. Semistructured telephone interviews explored participants' experiences of cancer and perceptions of priorities for future cancer-related research.

CONCLUSION

Participants reported positive experiences of cancer care. However, positive and negative experiences of information, symptoms, and support both within and beyond the hospital setting were highlighted. Forty-two research priorities in six thematic areas were identified: 1) recognition of the signs and symptoms of cancer; 2) research about cancer treatment; 3) assessment and management of comorbidities; 4) unmet needs of older adults living with and after cancer; 5) impact of COVID-19; and 6) impact on caregivers and family members of people living with and after cancer.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING PRACTICE

The results of this study provide a basis for future priority-setting activities that are culturally and contextually sensitive to health care systems, resources, and needs of older adults living with and after cancer. Based on the findings of this study, we make recommendations for the development of interventions that can build awareness, capacity, and competence in geriatric oncology among cancer care professionals and consideration of the diverse needs of older adults in the development of interventions to address unmet information and supportive care needs.

Informed consent in dermatology: a narrative review

Informed consent is a legal and ethical obligation of healthcare providers, and there are several steps that must be followed for informed consent to be obtained. Numerous challenges exist to obtaining informed consent including gaps in health literacy, language barriers, impaired decision-making capacity, and inadequacy of informed consent forms. Dermatologists must understand the importance and process for obtaining informed consent to protect patients as well as avoid litigation. This narrative review provides an overview of the process of obtaining informed consent, insight into the top challenges that clinicians may face with suggested recommendations, and a brief review of litigation from improper consent among dermatologists.

An app to classify a 5-year survival in patients with breast cancer using the convolutional neural networks (CNN) in Microsoft Excel: Development and usability study

BACKGROUND

Breast cancer (BC) is the most common malignant cancer in women. A predictive model is required to predict the 5-year survival in patients with BC (5YSPBC) and improve the treatment quality by increasing their survival rate. However, no reports in literature about apps developed and designed in medical practice to classify the 5YSPBC. This study aimed to build a model to develop an app for an automatically accurate classification of the 5YSPBC.

METHODS

A total of 1810 patients with BC were recruited in a hospital in Taiwan from the secondary data with codes on 53 characteristic variables that were endorsed by professional staff clerks as of December 31, 2019. Five models (i.e., revolution neural network [CNN], artificial neural network, Naïve Bayes, K-nearest Neighbors Algorithm, and Logistic regression) and 3 tasks (i.e., extraction of feature variables, model comparison in accuracy [ACC] and stability, and app development) were performed to achieve the goal of developing an app to predict the 5YSPBC. The sensitivity, specificity, and receiver operating characteristic curve (area under ROC curve) on models across 2 scenarios of training (70%) and testing (30%) sets were compared. An app predicting the 5YSPBC was developed involving the model estimated parameters for a website assessment.

RESULTS

We observed that the 15-variable CNN model yields higher ACC rates (0.87 and 0.86) with area under ROC curves of 0.80 and 0.78 (95% confidence interval 0.78-82 and 0.74-81) based on 1357 training and 540 testing cases an available app for patients predicting the 5YSPBC was successfully developed and demonstrated in this study.

CONCLUSION

The 15-variable CNN model with 38 parameters estimated using CNN for improving the ACC of the 5YSPBC has been particularly demonstrated in Microsoft Excel. An app developed for helping clinicians assess the 5YSPBC in clinical settings is required for application in the future.

Informed Consent for Intraoperative Neural Monitoring in Thyroid and Parathyroid Surgery - Consensus Statement of the International Neural Monitoring Study Group

In the past decade, the use of intraoperative neural monitoring (IONM) in thyroid and parathyroid surgery has been widely accepted by surgeons as a useful technology for improving laryngeal nerve identification and voice outcomes, facilitating neurophysiological research, educating and training surgeons, and reducing surgical complications and malpractice litigation. Informing patients about IONM is not only good practice and helpful in promoting the efficient use of IONM resources but is indispensable for effective shared decision making between the patient and surgeon. The International Neural Monitoring Study Group (INMSG) feels complete discussion of IONM in the preoperative planning and patient consent process is important in all patients undergoing thyroid and parathyroid surgery. The purpose of this publication is to evaluate the impact of IONM on the informed consent process before thyroid and parathyroid surgery and to review the current INMSG consensus on evidence-based consent. The objective of this consensus statement, which outlines general and specific considerations as well as recommended criteria for informed consent for the use of IONM, is to assist surgeons and patients in the processes of informed consent and shared decision making before thyroid and parathyroid surgery.