Practice and Attitudes of Physicians Regarding Disclosure of Information to Patients With Serious Illness

BACKGROUND: Health Information disclosure is the cornerstone in respecting the patients’ autonomy and beneficence, particularly in the context of serious illness. Some Middle Eastern cultures prioritise beneficence over patient autonomy. This may be used as a justification when patient’s family takes over the decision-making process. Although guidelines and protocols regarding information disclosure are fast evolving, there are no sufficient data regarding the application of these guidelines in the clinical context. The objective of this study is to explore the truth disclosure practices of physicians in Bahrain.

METHOD: In this cross sectional study, a random sample of 234 physicians was obtained from the database of Salmaniya Medical Complex (the largest public hospital in Bahrain). We used self-administered 21-item questionnaire to assess the practices and attitudes of physicians regarding disclosure of information to patients with serious illnesses.

RESULTS: A total of 200 physicians completed the questionnaire with a response rate of 69.6%. The question about the usual policy of disclosure revealed that 62.5% (125) of the doctors would always disclose the diagnosis to the patients, 26% (52) would often disclose the diagnosis and only 1% would never disclose the real diagnosis to a competent adult. Only 15% of the physicians would never make exceptions to their policy of “telling the patient” while all remaining physicians (85%) made exceptions to their policy either often, occasionally or rarely. The most common reason for not disclosing the diagnosis was family request (39.5%). About 64.5% of the physicians were not aware of any existing protocol or policy for diagnosis disclosure to patients. There was no statistically significant association between doctors’ policy of disclosure and other demographic variables.

CONCLUSION: Most physicians opt to disclose the truth; however, the majority would make exceptions at some point particularly upon family request. Regional truth disclosure policies should take into consideration the interplay and balance between patient autonomy and the role played by the family in the decision-making process.