INFORMED CONSENT, PHYSIOTHERAPY AND PUBLIC HEALTH. nMULTI-CENTRE CROSS-SECTIONAL DESCRIPTIVE STUDY.

Abstract

 Introduction: the informed consent and, definitely, the information given to the patient constitute one of the basic pillars of our professional practice. The objective of this study is, on the one hand, to know the patient´s implication level about the therapeutic decision making and, on the other hand, the patient´s degree of consent in different public Services of Physiotherapy in Jaén (Spain). Material and method: a study of cross-sectional descriptive design has been realized in the Service of Physiotherapy of 17 public sanitary centers in Jaén (7 Hospitals and 10 Primary Health Care Centers). A sample of 287 patients has been recruited. All of them fulfilled the inclusion criteria (to be of legal age and to have received a minimum of 5 physiotherapy sessions) and they have self-completed a brief survey that measures the Level of given Therapeutic Consent. Results: none of the 287 participants gave its Consent in writing, 135 patients affirmed to be informed, to have participated in the therapeutic decision making and to have given the Verbal Consent, 85 patients indicated to be informed but not to have participated in the decision making and neither to have given any type of consent (neither written nor verbal) and 67 patients recognized not to have given consent and not to be informed about the treatment that they were receiving. We didn´t find statistically significant differences between patients who went to Hospital or Primary Health Care Center but, we have found significant differences in relation to the academic level and with the patient´s age. Discussion/conclusions: the use of the written informed consent is, in Physiotherapy, a very low extended practice. It´s looks necessary that the professional physiotherapists know that a great number of patients does not receive all the wished and necessary information in order to allow the treatment of free and voluntary form.