Project description:The data presented in this article provide one of the first large-scale insights on adult preferences for confidentiality and consent with regards to medical decision-making for minors. We collected data on these preferences through 12 hypothetical scenario's that were presented, for which each participant had to indicate if they would (not) follow the minor's preferences. Data regarding family communication, relationship quality, and sociodemographic characteristics were also collected. The data were collected through an online survey in September and October 2020, which yielded responses from 1000 Belgian and 1000 Dutch participants between 35 and 55 years of age. We selected this age range because it increased the chances that they had a child near the age of the fictional minor in the hypothetical cases. These data can be of interest for family researchers and/or health workers who want to explore adults' perceptions regarding confidentiality and consent among minors.
Project description:ObjectivesHealth care professionals regularly struggle with issues relating to confidentiality and consent for physical and/or mental health issues among adolescents. We investigate late adolescents' own and assumed parental preferences towards health-care related confidentiality and consent.MethodsWe analyzed online survey data of four vignettes from 463 first-year university students at KU Leuven (Flanders, Belgium). We used paired samples t-tests to assess the (in)consistency between attitudes of late adolescents and their assumed parental attitudes, independent samples t-tests to estimate gender differences, and binomial logistic regressions to analyze the association of assumed parental preferences with late adolescents' own preferences.ResultsAttitudinal inconsistencies were present in all vignettes. Late adolescents were significantly more in favor of confidentiality and adolescent consent than what they believed their parents were. Gender differences were limited. Binomial logistic regressions indicated that assumed parental preferences were strongly associated with late adolescents' own preferences.ConclusionsFindings suggest a clear difference between late adolescents' preferences and assumed parental preferences: they believe that their parents are less inclined to favor confidentiality and adolescent consent. We also find that this difference depends on the case, indicating that there is no such thing as general 'confidentiality preferences'. Rather, a decision- and/or context-specific perspective should be adopted.
Project description:BackgroundInfodemic is a neologism of 'information' and 'epidemic' coined in the year 2003. Evidence mapping is a technique to appraise the literature which enables the extent of research activity in a specific area to be discovered. The main objective of this evidence synthesis presents the outcomes of an evidence map that was directed to know the extent of Infodemics and its effects on public health. Methods: The following methods were used to construct this evidence synthesis: Phase I. Construct a Broad Question Referring to the Field of Analysis. Phase II; Defining Key Variables to Be Mapped, identifying the characters of each variable and Outline Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria for the variables. Phase III: Literature search. Phase IV: Screening and Charting the Appropriate Evidence within the Synthesis. Results: Authors identified 55 records through database searching, after screening for duplicates, 53 records screened at title/abstract level of which, 16 records were removed because of lack of complete article or articles were not in English. 37 articles were eligible for full text screening, 37 full-text articles were than assessed for eligibility and only 22 articles were included as per inclusion criteria with an interrater Outcome Kappa value: 0.91. The strength of agreement was considered to be 'excellent'. Conclusions: This synthesis focused majorly on the gaps in the research focused on infodemic. The two main gaps identified were lack of systematically conducted research and poor digital health literacy. As infodemic is a new phenomenon with respect to the COVID-19 pandemic it was an eye opener at different levels of public health, furthermore this evidence map points out areas for further research on the impact of infodemic.
Project description:BackgroundOnly a few studies have been conducted to assess physicians' knowledge of legal standards. Nevertheless, prior research has demonstrated a dearth of medical law knowledge. Our study explored physicians' awareness of legal provisions concerning informed consent and confidentiality, which are essential components of the physician-patient relationship of trust.MethodsA cross-sectional study assessed attending physicians' legal knowledge of informed consent and confidentiality regulations. The study was conducted in nine hospitals in Dolj County, Romania. Physicians were given a questionnaire with ten scenarios and instructed to select the response that best reflected their practice. We assessed the responses of physicians who claimed their practice to be entirely legal. Their legal knowledge was evaluated by comparing their answers to applicable laws. We also calculated a score for the physicians who admitted to committing a legal breach.ResultsOf the 305 respondents, 275 declared they never committed any law violation. However, their median correct answer score was 5.35 ± 1.66 out of 10. The specialty was the strongest predictor of legal knowledge, with emergency physicians rating the lowest and non-surgical physicians scoring the highest. Physicians who worked in both private and public sectors were better knowledgeable about legal issues than those who worked exclusively in the public sector. Results indicate that physicians are aware of the patient's right to informed consent but lack comprehensive understanding. While most physicians correctly answered simple questions, only a tiny minority identified the correct solution when confronted with ethical dilemmas. The physicians who acknowledged breaching the law, on the other hand, had a slightly higher knowledge score at 5.45 ± 2.18.ConclusionLegal compliance remains relatively low due to insufficient legal awareness. Physicians display limited awareness of legal requirements governing patient autonomy, confidentiality, and access to health data. Law should be taught in all medical schools, including undergraduate programs, to increase physicians' legal knowledge and compliance.
Project description:In Brazil, health is fundamental human right guaranteed by the Constitution of 1988, which created the Brazilian Universal Health System (Sistema Único de Saúde - SUS). The SUS provides medications for outpatient care via policy of pharmaceutical assistance (PA) programmes. Despite the advances in PA policies which include the improvement in access to medications, there has been a significant increase in lawsuits related to health products and services. This study aimed to characterize the medication processes filed between 2010 and 2014 against the Secretary of State for Health of São Paulo (State Health Department of São Paulo - SES/SP), in Brazil, following PA policies.This descriptive study used secondary data on medication lawsuits filed against the SES/SP between 2010 and 2014. The data source was the S-Codes computerized system.In the period evaluated, the number of lawsuits filed concerning health-related products increased approximately 63%; requests for medications were predominant. Approximately 30% of the medications involved in court proceedings were supplied via PA programmes. With regard to medications supplied via specialized component, 81.3% were prescribed in disagreement with the protocols published by the Ministry of Health. Insulin glargine was the most requested medication (6.3%), followed by insulin aspart (3.3%). Because there is no scientific evidence that either of these medicines is superior for the treatment of diabetes, neither of them has been incorporated into the SUS by the National Commission for Technology Incorporation. The judicial data showed that most of the lawsuits involved normal proceedings (i.e., individual demands), were filed by private lawyers, and named the State of São Paulo as the sole defendant, demonstrating the individual nature of these claims. The data indicate inequality in the distribution between the number of cases and lawyers and the number of lawsuits and prescribers, evidencing the concentration of lawyers and physicians in filing lawsuits.The judicialization of health in the State of São Paulo with the characteristics presented herein is a threat to the SUS.
Project description:OBJECTIVES:In response to an expressed need for more focused measurement of preconception health (PCH), we identify a condensed set of PCH indicators for state and national surveillance. METHODS:We used a systematic process to evaluate, prioritize, and select 10 PCH indicators that maternal and child health programs can use for surveillance. For each indicator, we assessed prevalence, whether it was addressed by professional recommendations, Healthy People 2020 objectives, or Centers for Disease Control and Prevention winnable battles, measurement simplicity, data completeness, and stakeholders' input. RESULTS:Fifty PCH indicators were evaluated and prioritized. The condensed set includes indicators that rely on data from the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (n = 4) and the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (n = 6). The content encompasses heavy alcohol consumption, depression, diabetes, folic acid intake, hypertension, normal weight, recommended physical activity, current smoking, unwanted pregnancy, and use of contraception. CONCLUSIONS:Having a condensed set of PCH indicators can facilitate surveillance of reproductive-aged women's health status that supports monitoring, comparisons, and benchmarking at the state and national levels.
Project description:ObjectivesWe assess different approaches to seeking consent in research in secondary schools.DesignWe review evidence on seeking active versus passive parent/carer consent on participant response rates and profiles. We explore the legal and regulatory requirements governing student and parent/carer consent in the UK.ResultsEvidence demonstrates that requiring parent/carer active consent reduces response rates and introduces selection biases, which impact the rigour of research and hence its usefulness for assessing young people's needs. There is no evidence on the impacts of seeking active versus passive student consent but this is likely to be marginal when researchers are directly in communication with students in schools. There is no legal requirement to seek active parent/carer consent for children's involvement in research on non-medicinal intervention or observational studies. Such research is instead covered by common law, which indicates that it is acceptable to seek students' own active consent when they are judged competent. General data protection regulation legislation does not change this. It is generally accepted that most secondary school students age 11+ are competent to provide their own consent for interventions though this should be assessed individually.ConclusionAllowing parent/carer opt-out rights recognises their autonomy while giving primacy to student autonomy. In the case of intervention research, most interventions are delivered at the level of the school so consent can only practically be sought from head teachers. Where interventions are individually targeted, seeking student active consent for these should be considered where feasible.
Project description:The refugee crisis in Europe continues to persist despite recent data, showing a drop in the number of refugees seeking asylum. The EU has called this as “an unprecedented displacement crisis” and has aimed at devising a comprehensive approach to tackle it, which has been widely criticized. Concerns about public healthcare aspects of the crisis have permanently entered the media and policy discourse even though no systematic association between migration and the importation of infectious diseases has been recorded. In this context, the literature has not filled the existing gap between discourse and evidence, and almost no publications with reliable empirical data exist, both thematic (epidemiology) and geographical (Eastern Europe and Bulgaria). Among the existing publications, the focus has been on TB and HIV (Odone et al., Euro J Public Health 25(3):506–512, 2015). In light of this, the aim of this research is to contribute to the debate by providing an overview of the refugee situation in Bulgaria, as a primary entry-point for refugees entering the EU. In order to achieve this, the article analyses the case of the refugee camp in city of Harmanly, close to the Bulgarian-Turkish border, and assesses the public health risks related to this specific situation. Based on a study of 128 patients with different symptoms we aim to draw wider implications about the linkages between public health and migration. The in-depth review of this specific case shows that both the probability and impact of migration on public health increases when the hosting country is relatively poor, the domestic public healthcare system is not efficient, and there is lack of trust in the government and public services. The study contributes to understanding better these risks in order to identify potential mitigation strategies in the region and the EU as a whole.