CLINICAL ETHICS

Doctor’s views on disclosing or withholding information on low risks of complication

G G Palmboom¹, D L Willems¹, N B A T Janssen² and J C J M de Haes²

¹ Department of General Practice, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
² Department of Medical Psychology, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
D L Willems
Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, J2 119, PO Box 22700, 1100 DE Amsterdam, The Netherlands;d.l.willems{at}amc.uva.nl

Background: More and more quantitative information is becoming available about the risks of complications arising from medical treatment. In everyday practice, this raises the question whether each and every risk, however low, should be disclosed to patients. What could be good reasons for doing or not doing so? This will increasingly become a dilemma for practitioners.

Objective: To report doctors’ views on whether to disclose or withhold information on low risks of complications.

Methods: In a qualitative study design, 37 respondents (gastroenterologists and gynaecologists or obstetricians) were included. Focus group interviews were held with 22 respondents and individual in-depth interviews with 15.

Results: Doctors have doubts about disclosing or withholding information on complication risk, especially in a risk range of 1 in 200 to 1 in 10 000. Their considerations on whether to disclose or to withhold information depend on a complicated mix of patient and doctor-associated reasons; on medical and personal considerations; and on the kind and purpose of intervention.

Discussion: Even though the degree of a risk is important in a doctor’s considerations, the severity of the possible complications and patients’ wishes and competencies have an important role as well. Respondents said that low risks should always be communicated when there are alternatives for the intervention or when the patient may prevent or mitigate the risk. When the appropriateness of disclosing risks is doubtful, doctors should always tell their patients that no intervention is without risk, give them the opportunity to gather all the information they need or want, and enable them to detect a complication at an early stage.

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This article has been cited by other articles:

• Janssen, N B A T, Oort, F J, Fockens, P, Willems, D L, de Haes, H C J M, Smets, E M A (2009). Under what conditions do patients want to be informed about their risk of a complication? A vignette study. J. Med. Ethics 35: 276-282 [Abstract] [Full Text]