Dental and medical college professionals compatibility to face medico-legal practice: An awareness cross-sectional study at Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh

Abstract

Context: Medicine is a noble profession, but the practice of medicine has been influenced by the transition in the relationship between doctor and patient and the advertising of the modern healthcare professional. The basic principles of medicine insist that doctors should be aware of the numerous medico-legal concerns that aid in documenting patient management information properly. Aims: The aim is to evaluate the knowledge and awareness on medico-legal Issues among Medical and Dental College Health Professionals of Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh. Settings and Design: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among health professionals. Subjects and Methods: A total of 316 health professionals (161 medical and 155 dental) participated in the study. A structured, closed-ended, self-administered questionnaire was used for the collection of data. Statistical Analysis Used: Chi-square test was used to compare the awareness of medico-legal issues between medical and dental health professionals Results: Among the 316 health professionals, 90.9% of medical and 99.3% of dental professionals were aware about the informed consent, 18.6% of medical and 10.3% of dental professionals had awareness about the Consumer Protection Act and only 18.6% of medical and 9.6% of dental professionals had attended any CDE/CME program regarding Medico-legal issues. Conclusions: The results revealed that there was little knowledge of medico-legal concerns among the participants. There is therefore an immediate need to update the understanding of these issues to be legally more secure.