Patients Perception of the Quality of Consent for Caesarean Sections in a tertiary health facility in Port Harcourt, Southern Nigeria

Authors

  • Kenneth Eghuan Okagua Rivers State University Teaching Hospital
  • Joyce Okagua Department of Paediatrics, University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital

Keywords:

Caesarean Section, Perception, Quality, Informed Consent, Rivers State

Abstract

Background: Informed consent should be viewed as a process and not just a signature on a form as is commonly seen in most cases. It is very important not just to minimise conflict/medico-legal issues but as a tool for better communication between the physician and the patient on diagnosis, treatment risk, etc. In order to improve acceptance/minimise conflicts from Caesarean Deliveries, which are increasingly being performed globally, it is important to determine patients perception of the quality of consents obtained, more so, as previous studies have demonstrated poor quality of consent for various surgical procedures.

Materials and Method: A cross-sectional study was carried out in Braithwaite Memorial Specialist Hospital, between January 2016 to June 2016, using an interviewer based structured questionnaire on women who had caesarean section.

Results: Three hundred and forty eight women who had caesarean section were recruited for the study. They were aged between 20 and 42 years with a mean age of 31.74 ± 4.39 years. Majority (67.5%) of the women had tertiary level of education and 94.8% of the women were married.
Of the 348 women, 220 (63.2%) had emergency caesarean section. 89.9% had knowledge of the diagnosis and the same number, were not aware of possible complications. 55.7% of the consents were obtained by a nurse. Only 52% of the women were satisfied with the consent.

Conclusion: The quality of consent for obstetric surgeries is still poor. Doctors especially consultants need to be more involved in the process to improve its quality.

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Published

2020-08-10

How to Cite

Okagua, K. E., & Okagua, J. (2020). Patients Perception of the Quality of Consent for Caesarean Sections in a tertiary health facility in Port Harcourt, Southern Nigeria. The Nigerian Health Journal, 19(4), 148–157. Retrieved from https://tnhjph.com/index.php/tnhj/article/view/454

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