Study on physicians’ explanations to pediatric patients and treatment decision makers in pediatric healthcare

Akutagawa Maiko, Watanabe Michiko, Takagi Yasuo, Maeda Shoichi

doi:10.11303/jsha.51.193

In pediatric healthcare, it is necessary to provide an explanation to and obtain informed consent from the patients themselves as well as their parents before providing treatment. However, it still remains controversial as to what can be discussed with pediatric patients themselves and as to what must be done if a pediatric patient and his/her parents have different opinions. The purpose of this study was to investigate the actual status of these problems encountered in clinical practice. Using questionnaire sheets, I asked physicians what points they considered in their explanation, what information they provided, and who it was that made the treatment decision when a pediatric patient and his/her parents had different opinions. The survey subjects included doctors regularly working for departments handling pediatric cancer at local pediatric cancer core hospitals, and answers were received from 52 doctors （response rate: 83.9%）. The results of the survey revealed that doctors were careful not to draw conclusions in haste when they respected the intentions of children; they gave consideration to privacy in the case of children who were over 7 years old, adopted a sympathetic attitude when they talked and explained the risks of the planned treatment to the children when they respected the intention of the parents; furthermore, they tried not to be overbearing on children over 15 years of age and laid emphasis on providing information about influence of the treatment on the patients’ lives or their future when the treatment decision was left to the health professionals themselves.

Study on physicians’ explanations to pediatric patients and treatment decision makers in pediatric healthcare

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