Paper
Friday, July 13, 2007
Perceptions of informed consent among patients and physicians in Korea
Won-Hee Lee, RN, PhD1, Byung Hye Kong, PhD2, In Sook Kim, PhD1, Sue Kim, RN, PhD1, and Sunhee Lee, MS1. (1) College of Nursing, Yonsei University, Seoul, South Korea, (2) Medicine, Chosun University, Gwangju, South Korea
| Learning Objective #1: understand how differently the informed consent is recognized by patient and by physician in Korea |
| Learning Objective #2: understand the index in order for informed consent to be settled in Korea |
In Korean society based on the patriarchal system, authority is very important in the relationship between patient and physician, and therefore, there is an unequal relationship between patient and physician. Ever since the informed consent was introduced from Western society, people were aware of the need for informed consent; however, because of the discrepant relationship between patient and physician, there was a large gap in perspectives of patient and of physician toward informed consent. The purpose of this study is to understand and examine the attributes of different perspectives toward informed consent and to provide an index in order for informed consent to be settled and used without much problem. This study has verified the attributes by hybrid model to define the concept of informed consent. 12 patients and 12 physicians were interviewed after selecting departments, including orthopedics, thoracic surgery, and obstetrics/gynecology, from two university hospitals in Seoul and Gwang-ju through a pilot test. Result was analyzed by 6 categories including perspective toward informed consent, attitude toward establishing a rapport between a physician and a doctor, topic of what was informed, method of decision making, and the content of what was explained. The patients thought trust relationship was an important factor toward informed consent; however, physicians considered legal perspective to be more important, and they said that informed consent was explained by residents by using medical terminology. Moreover, decisions about treatment were made mostly by physicians or family members, and sometimes explanation was not given to the patient if prognosis was not good. During the physician and patient interaction, the explanation was not delivered well due to the perceived superior role of the physician by the patient, and patients perceived that the physicians were giving informed consent in order to allow themselves to be exempt from legal responsibility.