Video versus traditional informed consent for neonatal circumcision

Area of Science:

• Medical Ethics and Patient Education
• Pediatric Surgery and Neonatal Care

Background:

• Informed consent is crucial for elective procedures like newborn circumcision.
• Traditional physician discussions may be subject to perceived bias.
• Alternative educational methods, such as videos, warrant investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the efficacy of video-based education versus traditional physician-led informed consent for newborn circumcision.
• To assess maternal knowledge, satisfaction, and perception of provider bias between the two methods.

Main Methods:

• Randomized controlled trial comparing a video on circumcision risks/benefits ('Video-Plus') with standard physician discussion ('Standard-MD').
• Mothers interested in or undecided about circumcision were enrolled.
• Data collected via questionnaires and telephone interviews; analyzed using chi-square and Wilcoxon signed rank test.

Main Results:

• No significant differences in composite maternal knowledge or satisfaction were observed between the video and physician groups.
• Mothers in the video group perceived significantly less bias compared to the physician group (1.1% vs. 6.8%, p=0.04).
• Highly educated mothers showed higher satisfaction with the video intervention (p=0.04), despite overall knowledge gaps in both groups.

Conclusions:

• Video-based education for newborn circumcision is not superior to traditional physician informed consent in enhancing maternal knowledge or satisfaction.
• Video education may reduce perceived provider bias.
• Further research is needed to develop more effective methods for educating mothers about the risks and benefits of elective neonatal procedures.