Comprehensibility Levels of Informed Consent Forms in a State Hospital Internal Medicine Clinic: A Descriptive Study

Abstract

Objectives: Herein, we aimed to determine the comprehensibility levels of written informed consent forms in a state hospital internal medicine clinic.
 
 Methods: Twenty-eight informed consent forms for diagnostic interventions, treatment applications, and hospitalization processes in a state hospital internal medicine clinic were evaluated with the comprehensibility indexes developed by Ateşman and Bezirci-Yılmaz. We evaluated comprehensibility in four main groups: primary (1st-8th grade), high school (9th-12th grade), undergraduate (13th-16th grade), and graduate education (over 16th grade).
 
 Results: According to both comprehensibility indexes, all forms required at least a high school education. According to Ateşman, median comprehensibility was at the 13th-14th grade; according to Bezirci-Yılmaz, a median of 14.6 years of education was required for comprehensibility. 
 
 Conclusion: For comprehensibility of the informed consent forms used in the internal medicine clinic, at least high school and median university-level education were required. Considering the rate of population with a high school or higher education degree in Turkey was 43% in 2020, it is predicted that the patients’ comprehensibility of the written informed consent would be seriously low. Immediate regulations are required ethically and legally to increase the comprehensibility of existing written informed consent forms throughout society.