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Public Opinion Regarding Consent to Treatment
Author(s) -
Singer Peter A.,
Choudhry Sujit,
Armstrong Jane
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
journal of the american geriatrics society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.992
H-Index - 232
eISSN - 1532-5415
pISSN - 0002-8614
DOI - 10.1111/j.1532-5415.1993.tb02042.x
Subject(s) - medicine , public opinion , informed consent , medline , family medicine , alternative medicine , law , pathology , politics , political science
Objective To examine public opinion regarding certain elements of consent: disclosure, advance directives, substitute decisions, emergency treatment, and advocacy. Design Cross‐sectional random‐digit‐dialing telephonic survey. Setting General public. Participants One thousand randomly‐selected adults living in Ontario. Interventions None. Main Outcome Measures Self‐reported attitudes and behaviors. Results Of 5,708 telephone numbers drawn, 641 were non‐valid or non‐residential, 1,283 were not in service, 1,068 had no answer, a busy line, or an unavailable respondent, 147 subjects had a language barrier, 1,497 subjects refused, 72 interviews were incomplete, and 1,000 interviews were completed. With regard to disclosure, 33% of respondents said that a doctor should withhold information from a patient if asked to do so by the patient's family. With regard to advance directives, 36% of respondents had had advance discussions with their families, and 12% had completed a living will. With regard to substitute decisions, 77% of respondents said that they would want their wishes followed if they were unable to make medical decisions for themselves; 58% wanted their spouse or partner to make such decisions for them. With regard to emergency treatment, 48% of respondents stated that a doctor should give a life‐saving blood transfusion to an unconscious adult carrying a card stating that blood transfusion was against his or her religious beliefs. With regard to advocacy, 78% of respondents supported mandatory advocacy services for serious health decisions such as whether to have heart surgery; 33% supported advocacy services for less serious decisions such as whether to have a dental filling. Conclusions These data highlight the need to reconsider legislative provisions regarding and/or target public education programs toward specific consent‐related issues including disclosure, advance directives, substitute decisions, emergency treatment, and advocacy.