Audiovisual recordings of patients: developing an ethical guideline in Iran

Widespread use of smartphones among healthcare professionals necessitates the availability of accessible ethical guidelines that consider cultural and social contexts. This study aimed to develop an ethical guideline for the use and documentation of audiovisual recordings of patients in Iran. The study was conducted in three phases: (I) a literature review, (II) focus group discussions, and (III) expert panel sessions. Participants were selected based on their willingness to participate in focus group meetings and a minimum of five years of experience in the field. Conventional content analysis was used for the focus group discussions, while directed content analysis was applied to the expert panel sessions. The guideline comprises two sections: "general ethical considerations", which includes 43 items, and "specific ethical considerations", which contains 18 items. The "general ethical considerations" section addresses ethical issues to be considered before, during, and after making audiovisual recordings of patients. The "specific ethical considerations" section focuses on ethical principles related to audiovisual recordings involving children and adolescents, cadavers, and patients with impaired decision-making capacity. This ethical guideline aims to address emerging ethical and legal challenges and to ensure that healthcare professionals' behaviors align with established ethical principles and societal expectations. Furthermore, it can serve as a valuable resource for developing assessment tools and training students in clinical settings.