Knowledge and practice of informed consent by physiotherapists and therapy assistants in KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa.
Kayode S Aderibigbe, Sylvester C Chima
PMID 31535054WHAT IT FOUND
Physiotherapists in South Africa often skip assessing patient competence and rarely document consent.
Most rely on verbal agreement, explaining benefits but not allowing treatment choices. Over half do not know the legal age for consent is 12. Language and workload are the biggest barriers to proper informed consent.
Key findings
01Most respondents obtained informed consent verbally without documentation, and nearly half felt current consent forms were inadequate.
02Only a minority assessed patient competence or allowed patients to choose their treatment procedure, despite most believing time spent was sufficient.
03Over half of the participants incorrectly identified the legal age of consent for medical treatment in South Africa.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The response rate was low at 44.5%, and the number of respondents for assistants and technicians was very small (three each), which limits the generalisability of findings for these groups. The study relied on self-reported data, which may not accurately reflect actual clinical practice due to social desirability bias. The study was conducted only in public health institutions in one urban district in South Africa, so results may not apply to private practice or rural settings. There was no way to differentiate the time spent specifically on informed consent versus the entire clinical encounter.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest. The study was approved by the University of KwaZulu-Natal Biomedical Research and Ethics Committee and the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health Knowledge and Research Ethics Committee.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that because most therapists reported their time and information disclosure were sufficient, their practice meets ethical standards. The data shows that most relied on verbal consent without documentation, rarely assessed patient competence, and did not allow treatment choice, which indicates a significant gap between perceived sufficiency and actual informed consent validity.