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Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practice of Doctors About Medical Ethics in Practicing Medicine | ||
| Al- Anbar Medical Journal | ||
| Article 7, Volume 20, Issue 2, December 2024, Pages 158-165 PDF (1 M) | ||
| Document Type: Original articles | ||
| DOI: 10.33091/amj.2024.148734.1679 | ||
| Authors | ||
| Taqi Mohammed Jwad Taher* 1; Hussein A. Ahmed2 | ||
| 1Department of Family and Community Medicine/ Community Medicine, College of Medicine, Wasit University, Wasit, Iraq. | ||
| 2Department of Family and Community Medicine/Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Kufa, Kufa, Iraq. | ||
| Abstract | ||
| Background: Medical ethics are moral values that direct the doctor’s profession to enhance patient outcomes and community health. It guides doctors' obligations to patients, colleagues, and society, upholding beneficence, nonmaleficence, justice, respect for autonomy, and confidentiality. Objectives: To assess the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of doctors regarding medical ethics. Materials and methods: An analytic cross-sectional study was conducted in Wasit province, Iraq. A self-administered questionnaire was distributed to 258 randomly selected doctors from the three main governmental hospitals in Al-Kut City, Iraq. This questionnaire consisted of four main parts, including sociodemographic features, knowledge (14 items), attitudes (6 items), and practice questions (5 items). In addition to inquiring about who to consult when facing ethical issues. Results: An analysis of 240 completed questionnaires revealed that the highest percentage of doctors (89.6%) were aware of the importance of confidentiality when treating patients, and the same percentage (89.6%) didn’t agree that consent is required only for surgical intervention. The majority of doctors (88.8%) didn’t agree with helping patients to die even though they requested it. Regarding attitude, most doctors (84.2%) strongly disagreed and disagreed with the commission for sending patients to tests. This was followed by 83.7% who believed that doctors should not tell patients that tests are normal when not conducting them. The highest percentage of doctors mentioned witnessing unethical behavior from their clinical team. Knowledge of doctors was significantly related to their sex and years of experience (P-values = 0.001 and 0.001, respectively). While attitude was related to both job description and years of experience, with a P-value of 0.001 and 0.049. Those doctors who received a medical ethics postgraduate course had a significantly higher percentage of good knowledge scores than those who didn’t receive it (P- value = 0.001). Around 40% of the sample mentioned consulting their families and friends when facing any ethical problem. Conclusion: Even though the majority of the doctors in this study had good knowledge and positive attitudes toward medical ethics, it was found that new doctors who received postgraduate courses in medical ethics were more knowledgeable than other doctors. | ||
| Keywords | ||
| Medical ethics; Medicine practice; Knowledge; Attitudes; Practice | ||
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