Awareness and practice of patient rights from a patient perspective: An insight from Upper Egypt

Objectives: To assess the patients' awareness of their rights, the predictors of knowledge of patients' rights and the degree of adherence to these rights by the medical team from the patients' perspective. Design: A cross-sectional study. Setting: Minia University Hospital, Minia, Egypt. Participants: Hospitalized patients in Minia University Hospital, from 1 January to 1 February 2017. Methods: In total, 514 patients were interviewed during their hospital stay. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire that inquired about their knowledge of the patient rights and the level of practicing these rights from their point of view. Main outcome measures: The awareness about different aspects of the patient rights was assessed by a mean knowledge score. Factors affecting the patients' awareness about their rights were evaluated. The extent to which physicians and nurses apply the patient rights from the patients' point of view was measured. Results: About 76% of patients did not know that there is a charter of patient rights. The mean knowledge score of patient rights in this study was 7.2 ± 2.71 out of 14. Patients' education associated significantly with their knowledge score. The majority (98.1%) of interviewed patients stated that the medical team did not inform them about the available treatment choices. Conclusions: The greater part of the patients was not aware of their rights at a satisfactory level. Health care providers should place more emphasis on increasing the patients' awareness about their rights and involve them in making decisions regarding their treatment choices. The Ministry of Health needs to be more sensitive to this issue.