Abstract

TARDAGUILA LOBATO, Mª del Pilar et al. Patient's information and participation in decision making in the emergency service in primary care. Rev Clin Med Fam [online]. 2008, vol.2, n.4, pp.145-148. ISSN 2386-8201.

Objective: To study the information given to the patient or their family, the information requested by the patient and his/her participation in the decisions made in the emergency service of Primary Care. Design: Descriptive observational study based on direct observations in clinics and subsequent telephone interview. Setting: Primary Care Emergency Service. Participants: Users of the Emergency Services in several Primary Care Centres in the Toledo Province. Main measurements: Personal details, accompanied or not, attitude or degree of concern, information provided by the doctor and/or requested by the patient, evaluation of the patients' participation in decision making. Results: The doctor provided some information in 100% of cases; most frequently about treatment (83.4%) and diagnosis (80.1%); and least often about prognosis (23.8%) and complications (25.2%). A total of 25.2% of patients did not request any information. Of these, afterwards 17.6% considered that they had received too little information. Only 27.2% were invited by the doctor to take part in making decisions; while only 23.8% directly requested some treatment or referral to the hospital. The treatment received was considered suitable by 95% of patients. The patients’ degree of concern decreased from 6.1 (on arrival) to 3.4 (on discharge) [scale 1-10]. Conclusions: It appears that sufficient information is provided in the emergency department and that the healthcare provided is also satisfactory. Patients still participate very little in decision making.

Keywords : Patient Participation; Physician-Patient Relations; Emergency Medical Services.

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