Common Medical Ethical Issues Faced by Healthcare Professionals in KSA

Overview

Journal J Taibah Univ Med Sci

Specialty General Medicine

Date 2019 Nov 16

PMID 31728138

Citations 8

Authors

Faisal AbuAbah

Abdulaziz Alwan

Yassar Al-Jahdali

Adnan Al Shaikh

Abdullah Alharbi

Hamdan Al-Jahdali

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Objective: There are growing concerns about ethical issues in the healthcare system. This study was conducted to determine the nature of common ethical issues faced by healthcare providers in a tertiary-care hospital in KSA.

Method: This cross-sectional study comprised a self-administered questionnaire given to the physicians working at King Abdulaziz Medical City Hospital-Riyadh, Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs (KAMC-RD, MNGHA). We used a convenience sampling technique during symposia and conferences.

Results: We distributed 240 questionnaires amongst the physicians and recorded a response rate of 80%; 68% (136) of the respondents were men, while 82.5% were Saudis. The mean age of the group was 34.08 ± 10.43 years. Only 69% (138) of the physicians had ever received any formal teaching in bioethics. Most physicians (77.5%) demanded clear guidelines to help them to take appropriate ethical decisions on therapeutic futility, whereas 54% felt that they sometimes overtreat their patients.

Conclusion: This study reported a lack of knowledge in certain healthcare-related ethical issues in a significant proportion of the physicians. There is a need for a standard educational agenda for medical ethics for healthcare providers, not only during medical school but also after graduation and during clinical rounds.

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