Study of Patients' Privacy during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Iranian Health Care Settings.

IF 1.6 Q2 MEDICINE, GENERAL & INTERNAL
Mina Mobasher, Hamidreza Samzadeh Kermani, Mahin Eslami Shahrbabaki, Afshin Sarafinejad
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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background: Patient's privacy protection is a challenging ethical issue. The complex situation of the COVID-19 pandemic was a probable predictor of breaching confidentiality. This study aimed to assess the viewpoints of COVID-19-confirmed patients, who were hospitalized, and their healthcare providers about the compliance of different aspects of patient's privacy.

Methods: This cross-sectional study included 3433 COVID-19-confirmed patients who were hospitalized in Kerman, between 2020 and 2021, and about 1228 related physicians, nurses, and paraclinical staff. Two separate validated researcher-made questionnaires were developed, each including subscales for physical, informational, and spatial privacy, as well as a satisfaction rate of privacy protection. The data were analyzed using SPSS software version 26, with independent samples t test, Mann-Whitney-U, Kruskal Wallis, and Multiple Linear Regression tests at a 95% confidence interval.

Results: The mean percentages of the patients' privacy scores in physical, spatial, and informational areas were significantly lower (P<0.001) than the average of the medical staff's scores in all three areas (Difference: 10.27%, 14.83%, and 4.91%, respectively). Physical and spatial privacy scores could be predicted based on the participants' classification, patients or medical staff, and sex. The mean patients' satisfaction score was 9.25% lower than the medical staff's (P<0.001). Moreover, only academic hospitals showed a statistically significant difference between the patient's satisfaction with privacy protection and medical staff's viewpoints (P<0.001).

Conclusion: Although this study indicated the benefits of protecting patients' privacy in the healthcare setting, patients' privacy scores and satisfaction were lower than their healthcare providers. The pandemic conditions might have been an obstacle to preserving patients' rights. These findings demonstrated the importance of sensitizing healthcare providers to manage these ethical challenges in a complicated critical state such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

研究伊朗医疗机构在 COVID-19 大流行期间病人的隐私。
背景:保护病人隐私是一个具有挑战性的伦理问题。COVID-19 大流行的复杂情况很可能导致违反保密规定。本研究旨在评估确诊为 COVID-19 的住院患者及其医疗服务提供者对遵守患者隐私不同方面规定的看法:这项横断面研究包括 2020 年至 2021 年期间在克尔曼住院的 3433 名 COVID-19 确诊患者,以及约 1228 名相关医生、护士和医务辅助人员。研究人员分别制作了两份经过验证的调查问卷,每份问卷都包括物理隐私、信息隐私和空间隐私的子量表,以及隐私保护的满意度。数据使用 SPSS 软件 26 版进行分析,采用独立样本 t 检验、Mann-Whitney-U、Kruskal Wallis 和多元线性回归检验,置信区间为 95%:结果:患者在物理、空间和信息方面的隐私评分的平均百分比明显较低(PC结论:尽管本研究表明保护隐私对患者有好处,但患者在物理、空间和信息方面的隐私评分的平均百分比明显较低:尽管这项研究表明了在医疗环境中保护患者隐私的益处,但患者的隐私得分和满意度均低于医疗服务提供者。大流行病的条件可能是维护患者权利的一个障碍。这些研究结果表明,在 COVID-19 大流行这种复杂的危急情况下,提高医疗服务提供者对处理这些伦理挑战的敏感性非常重要。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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来源期刊
Iranian Journal of Medical Sciences
Iranian Journal of Medical Sciences MEDICINE, GENERAL & INTERNAL-
CiteScore
3.20
自引率
0.00%
发文量
84
审稿时长
12 weeks
期刊介绍: The Iranian Journal of Medical Sciences (IJMS) is an international quarterly biomedical publication, which is sponsored by Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. The IJMS intends to provide a scientific medium of com­muni­cation for researchers throughout the globe. The journal welcomes original clinical articles as well as clinically oriented basic science re­search experiences on prevalent diseases in the region and analysis of various regional problems.
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