Health, Spirituality and Medical Ethics

Background and Objectives: Medical confidentiality and maintenance of patient personal privacy are considered two important moral obligations in medical ethics with a long history in medicine. To be efficient, a healthcare system needs active participation of and appropriate cooperation between the recipients and providers of healthcare services. This study was conducted to investigate healthcare service recipients' perceptions regarding observance of patient privacy and medical confidentiality in teaching healthcare centers affiliated with the Qom University of Medical Sciences.

Methods: In this cross-sectional (descriptive-analytical) study that was conducted in 2015-2016, 380 patients referred to teaching healthcare centers affiliated with the Qom University of Medical Sciences were enrolled according to randomized sampling. Data were gathered by a researcher-developed questionnaire according to Patient Rights Charter and analyzed by descriptive and nonparametric statistics test in SPSS 16.

Results: Patient privacy and confidentiality were not observed from the perspectives of 26.3% of them, partly observed from the perspectives of 50%, and fully observed from the perspectives of 23.7%. Alongside observance of patient privacy, the most important item, from the healthcare service recipients' perspectives, was observance of client orientation, which was observed from the perspectives of 24.5% of them, partly observed from the perspectives of 50.4%, and not observed from the perspectives of 25.1%.

Conclusion: From half of the patients' perspectives in the healthcare centers affiliated with the Qom University of Medical Sciences, patient privacy and medical confidentiality were partly observed. Therefore, the authorities can take necessary steps to set priorities and appropriately plan for improving observance of the patient privacy and medical confidentiality as well as to respect the patients' territory and rights in all areas, especially nursing, administrative, educational, and research.