Investigating the Awareness of Patient Rights based on the Patient's Rights Charter among Patients Referring to Teaching Hospitals of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran

Background: In order to ensure the quality of healthcare services, it is inevitable to observe medical ethical standards and patient rights. We aimed to determine the level of awareness of patients' rights based on PRC among patients referred to the teaching hospitals of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Iran.Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed on ۴۳ patients admitted to two teaching hospitals in Mashhad, Iran. Data were collected using a two-part questionnaire including demographic characteristics and the inventory of patients’ rights observance. Statistical analysis was performed using descriptive statistics and independent t-test, chi-square, Spearman correlation coefficient and ANOVA in SPSS ver. ۱۶.Results: The mean ± SD of the age of the research subject was ۲۶.۵ ± ۹.۸۳ years. A total of ۳۷.۲% of the participants had moderate awareness of patient rights. The highest observance of the patient's rights was related to the area of respecting the patient’s privacy and confidentiality, which was evaluated as excellent by ۴۱.۹% of research subjects. The lowest observance of the patient's rights was related to the optimal provision of health services to patients, which was poor in ۳۹.۲% of the research subjects. There was no significant relationship between demographic characteristics (age, gender, education, number of hospitalization days, and patients’ place of residence) with observance of patient rights (P>۰.۰۵).Conclusion: In the present study, patients did not have an optimal awareness of PRC in most related areas. Therefore, it is suggested that more detailed regulatory policies be developed and implemented to ensure the provisions of the Patients’ Rights Charter as well as educational programs to promote patient awareness in this area.

Keywords:

awareness , Patient rights , Patient' s Rights Charter , patients