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Published on: January 17, 2011
Informed consent in minor and intermediate pediatric elective surgery: results of an in-house questionnaire
Bianca Stefani1, Daniela Codrich2, Maria Rita Caputo1
1Pediatric Surgery Division, Women's And Children's Health Department, University of Padua, Padua, Italy.
Insights
Parents often struggle to recall surgical risks despite perceived quality of informed consent information. Improving recall requires better methods for surgical informed consent processes in pediatric care.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Surgery
- Informed Consent Process
- Patient Education
Background:
- Evaluating the quality of surgical informed consent.
- Assessing parents' recall of procedures and risks for elective day surgery.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the quality of surgical informed consent.
- To assess parents'/guardians' late recall of surgical procedures and risks.
Main Methods:
- Prospective enrollment of parents/guardians of patients under 18 undergoing minor/intermediate elective procedures.
- Pre-operative interviews and post-procedure questionnaires on consent duration, handout clarity, and recall of disease, procedure, and risks.
Main Results:
- 96% found consent duration adequate; 93% found handouts informative regarding disease/procedure.
- 91% found handouts informative on complications, but only 38% recalled more than one risk.
- 88% recalled the procedure type, but only 84% recalled it correctly.
Conclusions:
- Parental recall of surgical complications is poor despite perceived quality of information.
- Expedient methods are needed to enhance comprehension and satisfaction in the informed consent process.
- Standardized guidelines are necessary for an optimal informed consent process.
Background:
The aim of this study was to evaluate the quality of our surgical informed consent and parents'/guardians' late recall of surgical procedures and risks of elective day surgery after pre-operative interview with surgeons.
Methods:
All parents/guardians of patients <18 years of age undergoing minor and intermediate elective procedures from January 15th to September 1st, 2022, were prospectively enrolled in the study. Before discharge, parents/guardians were asked to complete an in-house questionnaire regarding the duration of the consent procedure, duration of the interview, quality of the informative handouts, and their ability to recall the type of disease, type of surgical procedure, and surgical risks.
Results:
One hundred and two questionnaires were returned. In all cases, informed consent was obtained between 24 and 72 h prior to surgery. The following responses were collected: 98/102 (96%) parents/guardians reported that the duration of the consent process was adequate; 95/102 (93%) reported that the handouts were fully informative, and 7/102 (7%) reported that they were partially informative regarding explanation of the disease and surgical procedure; regarding complications, 93/102 (91%) perceived the handouts to be fully/partially informative, while 4/102 (4%) perceived the handouts to be poorly/non-informative, and 5/102 (5%) did not provide a response; 94/102 (92%) stated that they remembered the pathology, but only 87/94 (93%) recalled it correctly; 90/102 (88%) stated that they remembered the type of procedure, but only 76/90 (84%) recalled it correctly; and 53/102 (52%) stated that they remembered the surgical risks, but only 20/53 (38%) could recall more than one complication.
Conclusions:
Late recall of surgical complications by parents was poor despite the high perceived quality of the surgical risk handouts and medical interview. Implementation of expedient methods may improve overall comprehension and satisfaction of parents/guardians regarding the IC process. Further, more efforts should be made to develop standardized guidelines for an optimal IC process.
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