Patient and Physician Attitudes About Informed Consent for Emergency Department (ED) Computerized Axial Tomography (CT) Scans

Patient and Physician Attitudes About Informed Consent for Emergency Department (ED) Computerized Axial Tomography (CT) Scans

Hypothesis: The majority of Emergency physicians and patients do not feel that specific informed consent should be obtained for ED CT scans.

Secondary Hypothesis: Emergency attending physicians and residents will have similar attitudes about CT scan consent issues. Physician attitudes toward obtaining consent for CT scans will change after an educational program about the associated risks.

ED residents and ED attendings who attend grand rounds will be given a survey and asked to anonymously complete the first portion before grand rounds (Figure 1, example A). The first portion will assess basic demographics, CT ordering patterns and experiences, and attitudes about informed consent. They will be provided with an educational program at grand rounds that reviews current literature relevant to CT utilization and consent issues. After the lecture they will be asked to complete the second section of the survey (Figure 1, Example B). Both portions of the survey will be simultaneously returned in a sealed envelope and placed in a collection box at grand rounds.

ED attendings who do not attend grand rounds will only be asked to complete the first portion of the survey (Figure 1, example A). Resident or attending consent to participate will not be coerced, and participation will be implied by completion of the survey.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Current ED resident and attending physicians
• An ED patient (or their surrogate) that is able to understand and respond in writing to the questions given.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Anyone who declines to participate.
• An ED patient who is not able to understand questions or respond in writing to the questions given (and does not have a surrogate that understands questions and respond in writing to the questions given).