Volume 8, Issue 4 (December 2021)                   Health Spiritual Med Ethics 2021, 8(4): 243-248 | Back to browse issues page

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Haidari A, Hoseini-Rafi R, Adeli S H, Aghaali M. Perspectives About Breaking Bad News Among Medical Students of Qom University of Medical Sciences. Health Spiritual Med Ethics 2021; 8 (4) :243-248
URL: http://jhsme.muq.ac.ir/article-1-432-en.html
Perspectives About Breaking Bad News Among Medical Students of Qom University of Medical Sciences
Akram Haidari1 , Roghieh Hoseini-Rafi2 , Seyed Hasan Adeli1 , Mohammad Aghaali * 3
1- Spiritual Health Research Center, Qom University of Medical Sciences, Qom, Iran.
2- Student Research Committee, Qom University of Medical Sciences, Qom, Iran.
3- Department of Family and Community Medicine, School of Medicine, Qom University of Medical Sciences, Qom, Iran. , Dr.aghaali@yahoo.com
Abstract:   (1014 Views)
Background and Objectives: Undoubtedly, breaking bad news is one of the most difficult
duties of a doctor. Not having this skill and not paying attention to its details can result in poor
patient satisfaction, psychological morbidity, and weak clinical decisions. The present study was
conducted to investigate the medical students’ perspectives about delivering bad news to patients.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted using a questionnaire for all medical
students of Qom University of Medical Sciences, Iran. A total of 269 out of 310 students
responded to this survey (86.8% response rate). The questionnaire was designed and
validated by ten medical ethics experts.
Results: In this study, 54.4% of students believed that delivering bad news to patients
depends on the patient’s compliance and condition and 55.8% of the participants believed
that patients’ families should be the first recipient of the bad news. In addition, 54.3%
believed that physicians should deliver the bad news. A total of 78.8% of the participants
believed that breaking bad news should be accompanied by empathy and hope Also, 47.6%
of students said that they did not receive training about breaking bad news.
Conclusion: Breaking bad news is a balancing act that requires doctors to constantly adapt to
different factors. Although most medical students were keen to help their patients, they lacked
the essential knowledge and skills for breaking bad news. Development of strategies and
guidelines is needed to improve societal views, and train physicians about breaking bad news.
Keywords: Breaking bad news, Medical ethics, Empathy, Medical education, Medical student, Truth disclosure
Full-Text [PDF 948 kb]   (380 Downloads)    
Type of Study: Original Article | Subject: General
Received: 2021/04/10 | Accepted: 2022/02/26 | Published: 2022/06/2
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