Autonomy and confidentiality: patients' perspectives

Little is known about patients' opinions about their rights in autonomy and confidentiality concerning their illness and this study was conducted to assess it.

This multi-centred, cross-sectional study was conducted in outpatient clinics in Khartoum, Sudan. It was delivered to 295 respondents. Data were managed using Microsoft Excel 2010 and SPSS.

Eighty-five percent of the patients wanted to know about their conditions, of whom 17% wanted to choose their treatment and 29% believed they had the right to refuse treatment. Most of the respondents would not wish to hide information from their doctors. There was a wide variation at the rate of patients hiding information from their relatives, depending on their diagnosis (HIV 90%, malignancy 16.7% and tuberculosis 0%.)

Respondents want to choose their treating doctor, know about their diseases, be consulted before a procedure. They would like to leave technical issues to their treating doctors without jeopardising their own rights.