Wouter Leclercq

Chapter 3 46 Questionnaire sent to Surgeons (n=1,065) Other members (n=453) Response n=463 (31%) Not eligible for data processing (n=10) - Empty response (n=1) - Denial (n=2) - Duplicates (n=7) Eligible for data processing n=453 (30%) Surgeons (S) n=296 (28%) Residents (R) n=157 (35%) Figure 3.2 Response to surgical informed consent questionnaire. Knowledge of SIC elements SIC consists of three elements (Figure 3.1). When asked to point these out, almost all respondents (92%) were familiar with the element of ‘provision of information’ (Table 3.1). However, ‘assessment of preconditions’ and ‘stage of consent’ were less known by surgeons compared to residents (competence: S 55% vs. R 73%, P<0.001; consent: S 86% vs. R 92%, P=0.041; Table 3.1). One-third of both groups were wrongly convinced that a signature of either surgeon or patient was necessary for a legally sound consent procedure. Table 3.1 Which elements form an informed consent process. Q-Nr Element of SIC Question: Is the following item required in SIC Total Y/N % (n=453) Surgeons Y/N % (n=296) Residents Y/N % (n=157) P-value 18 Assessment of preconditions Evaluation of competence 62/38% 55/45% 73/27% <0.001 Provision of information Patient education 92/8% 91/9% 94/6% 0.37 Stage of consent Recording of consent 88/12% 86/14% 92/8% 0.041 Patients’ signature 31/69% 29/71% 34/66% 0.30 Surgeons’ signature 36/64% 34/66% 41/59% 0.16 Q-NR = Question number as reported in Appendix 3.1. SIC = Surgical informed consent. Y/N% = Percentage of persons in this category who answers positive / negative.