Communication ; Corona Virus Disease 19 ; Informed consent
Abstract
Purpose : Since the era of COVID-19, face-to-face contact has been reduced to prevent the spread of infectious diseases around the world, and hospitals are applying various methods to prevent the spread ofinfection. However, when writing a consent form essential during the treatment process, it had to be done face-to-face. We developed a non-face-to-face communication device to enable real-time consent writing. This study aims to evaluate the usefulness of the non-face-to-face communication device when writing a consent form. Methods : From December 28, 2021 to February 2, 2022, electronic medical records of patients visited the severance hospital emergency center and had a central venous catheter inserted were collectedretrospectively. There were 56 consent forms included in the study, 43 face-to-face and 13 non-face-to-face. We checked the difference between the details explained in the non-face-to-face consent form and theface-to-face by the average score and the explanation of each item. The score was measured from a minimum of 0 points to a maximum of 13 points, with 1 point for explained items and 0 points forunexplained. Results : The average score for the face-to-face consent form was 4.3, and for the non-face-to-face was 3.0 (p=0.148). There was no significant difference in the explanation of each item. Conclusion : It was confirmed writing a consent form through the non-face-to-face communication device can perform a similar role compared to the face-to-face. It is expected unnecessary contact can be reducedby applying the device to hospital rooms, and enabling a non-face-to-face rounds system for new infectious diseases.