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[Analysis of informed consent readibility in intensive care]
M R Ramírez-Puerta1, R Fernández-Fernández, J C Frías-Pareja
1Servicio de Medicina Intensiva, Hospital Universitario San Cecilio, Granada, España.
Objective:
To analyze the readability of informed consent documents (IC) used in an intensive care department and in the Andalusian Healthcare System (AHS).
Design:
A descriptive study was carried out.
Scope:
The Intensive Care Unit of a tertiary Hospital, and the AHS.
Interventions:
A review and analysis was made of the existing 14 IC models in the Intensive Care Unit and of another 14 IC models offered by the AHS, using the following readability scores: Flesch, Sentence complexity, LEGIN, Fernández-Huerta, Szigriszt and INFLESZ.
Results:
Twenty-four IC (85.7%) failed to satisfy some of the indexes, while three (10.7%) did not satisfy any of them. Four documents (14.3%) satisfied all the indexes analyzed, and therefore are easy to understand. Flesch score: satisfied by one of the ICU IC (7.1%) and by three of the AHS documents (21.4%). Sentence complexity score: satisfied by 11 of the ICU IC (78.6%) and by 13 of the AHS documents (92.8%). Fernández-Huerta score: satisfied by four of the ICU IC (28.6%) and by 13 of the AHS documents (92.8%). Szigriszt score: satisfied by two of the ICU IC (14.3%) and by 11 of the AHS documents (64.3%). INFLESZ score: satisfied by two of the ICU IC (14.3%) and by 10 of the AHS documents (71.4%).
Conclusions:
The documents analyzed are generally difficult to read and understand by most people, and do not satisfy the basic purpose for which they were drafted.
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