Evaluation of the knowledge level and attitudes of family physicians in Elazıg province towards informed consent

Informed consent is an ethical and legal process that enables a patient to voluntarily agree to a medical intervention after being adequately informed. Obtaining informed consent in accordance with its principles is important for the protection of patient autonomy, respect for human rights, and ensuring that medical practices comply with ethical standards and legal regulations. Physicians' understanding of current medical legislation and having sufficient knowledge on this subject is critically important, as it significantly affects both their own rights and those of their patients. This study aims to provide important data for the protection of patient rights and the prevention of legal problems by revealing the awareness and approaches of family physicians regarding informed consent. In this thesis, the knowledge levels and attitudes of family physicians working in primary healthcare services towards informed consent were evaluated. Our study is a prospective and cross-sectional survey conducted between January 2025 and May 2025. A total of 179 out of 210 family physicians in Elazığ province participated. Research data were collected using a sociodemographic questionnaire, a 19-item "Informed Consent Attitude Form," and a 16-item "Informed Consent Knowledge Questionnaire." The data were analyzed using IBM SPSS 22. The Shapiro-Wilk test, Mann-Whitney U test, Kruskal-Wallis test, Dunn-Bonferroni tests, and Spearman correlation analysis were used. The significance level was set at p<0.05. Among the participants, 9.5% were family medicine specialists and 90.5% were general practitioners. Only 14.0% of the participants reported that they obtained written consent from patients. In our study, only 14.5% of the physicians believed they had received adequate training in health law and informed consent. A significant negative correlation was found between participants' Informed Consent Attitude Scores (ICAS) and Informed Consent Knowledge Scores (ICKS) (r = -0.285; p < 0.001). Additionally, a significant negative correlation was found between participants' age (r = -0.168; p = 0.025) and years of professional experience (r = -0.164; p = 0.028) and their ICAS scores. The knowledge and attitude levels of the participating physicians regarding informed consent were found to be insufficient. The most significant factor associated with attitudes toward informed consent was determined to be the level of knowledge about the subject. Based on these results, it can be concluded that family physicians' knowledge levels on informed consent are inadequate. Therefore, it is recommended that both undergraduate and postgraduate education programs be implemented to improve their knowledge in this area.