Adherence to confidentiality principles from the viewpoint of Iranian dental students: A multicenter study

Confidentiality is a basic ethical principle appreciating human autonomy, relationships, and dignity and in medical research has a long history. In dental practice, it has the same importance as medical field. Therefore, providing patients with information about the confidentiality will promote their confidence in dental professionals and prevent legal conflicts. The present study sought to evaluate the knowledge and viewpoints of dental students about patient confidentiality.

In this multicenter applied research, the participants were recruited from schools of dentistry of Isfahan, Tehran, Tabriz, Shiraz, and Mashhad Universities of Medical Sciences and Isfahan Islamic Azad University during 2013. Ultimately, data were collected randomly with a researcher-made questionnaire from 180 dental students of fifth-sixth-year. The collected data were entered into SPSS 20.0. Independent t-tests and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) were performed to analyze the data.

Overall, 60.3% of the participating students were concerned about acquiring adequate knowledge on the concept of patient confidentiality and 59.0% felt obliged to participate in related educational courses. Most students (66.5%) were careful not to share patient information with their friends. According to one-way ANOVA, students of Tehran University of Medical Sciences scored significantly higher than other participants. However, no significant differences were detected between the students of other schools.

The confidentiality laws imposed by the Ministry of Health and Medical Education seem to adequate details, but needs more education for dentists. Also it should be accentuated, due to state of confidentiality in patients' rights guidline and courses on ethics should be tailored based on the specific subjects raised in each field of dentistry.