Dental school patients' understanding of informed consent

The purpose of this qualitative exploratory study is to describe and analyze adult patients' understanding of informed consent, using the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine's consent form. Randomly sampled, anonymous patients at the school's clinic were asked to read the form and highlight any statements they found to be confusing, while also rating the form as "easy," "needing minor changes," or "needing major changes." This survey tested the hypothesis that the reading level of the form exceeds that of the average patient and thus, as education level increased, so would comprehensibility while the number of confusing statements would decrease. The results were analyzed for trends in gender and education level, and the statements proving most problematic to the largest number of patients were identified and analyzed. Contrary to the hypothesis, the most highly educated patients highlighted more statements, inspiring a new hypothesis that this occurred because of highly educated patients' ability to distinguish between the literal meaning of the words and their implications. Revisions were made to the identified aspects of the form, and new surveys were completed, with the result that the modifications were successful and the new hypothesis was supported.