Patients’ understanding of “informed consent” in plastic surgery
José Neder, Netto Roberto, Augusto de Carvalho Campos, Reginaldo Raimundo Fujita
Revista da Associação Médica Brasileira, August 2021; 67(8) [Brazil]
Summary
Objective
To assess the patient’s understanding of the informed consent form before and after plastic surgery.
Methods
This was a prospective analytical descriptive study that utilized a questionnaire on informed consent before and after plastic surgery procedures.
Results
Comprehension of informed consent was higher before surgery than after surgery (p=0.016; question 15). The higher the scholarity, the higher the comprehension (s=0.151; p=0.045) before surgery (question 4). For the other questions, it was not possible to find a difference in the pattern of understanding and in the association with the educational attainment level after surgery (s=0.180; p=0.046; question 1).
Conclutions
The patients’ level of comprehension of the details, outcomes, possible complications, and postoperative evolutions of surgical procedures, as stated by the informed consent form, is high.