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[Medical attitude and legal concepts about some patient rights]
1Unidad de Medicina Crítica, Hospital General de Zona No. 1 Dr. José Luis Avila Pardo, México.
Objective:
To explore medical attitudes toward some patient rights and some legal aspects involving medical practice in Mexico.
Design:
Prospective, transversal and nonrandomized study using a multiple choice survey of 12 questions.
Setting:
An urban general hospital in the city of Aguascalientes, Mexico.
Subjects:
Seventy five physicians at the beginning of a specialty medical residency.
Main Measurements:
They covered four areas: the patient's right to decide, the medical attitude of benefit to the patient above all considerations, the patient's capacity to make decisions, and some legal aspects of medical practice.
Results:
34% of the physicians gave the patient the right to decide, 34% were opposed, and 32% referred it to a third person; 26% showed a benevolent attitude to the patient, 69% did not and 5% referred it; 73% recognized the patient's capacity of decision and 27% did not; only 40% knew about legal aspects of medical practice.
Conclusions:
This study suggests an important lack of knowledge of the Mexican physicians in regard to patient rights and to legal aspects in medical practice.