Overview of European legislation on informed consent for neonatal research.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Europe↗
Biomedical subjects
P Dalla-Vorgia
Publications and source records attributed to P Dalla-Vorgia.
Is consent in medicine a concept only of modern times?
Although the issue of consent in medical practice has grown immensely in recent years, and it is generally believed that historical cases are unknown, our research amongst original ancient Greek and Byzantine historical sources reveals that it is a very old subject which ancient philosophers and physicians have addressed. Plato, in ancient Greece, connected consent with the quality of a free person and even before him, Hippocrates had advocated seeking the patient's cooperation in order to combat the disease. In Alexander the Great's era and later on in Byzantine times, not only was the consent of the patient necessary but physicians were asking for even more safeguards before undertaking a difficult operation. Our study has shown that from ancient times physicians have at least on occasion been driven to seek the consent of their patient either because of respect for the patient's autonomy or from fear of the consequences of their failure.
Byzantium↗
Satisfying patients' rights: a hospital patient survey.
The aim of this project was to study the way in which patients' rights are being exercised in everyday hospital practice in Greece. Data were collected by using questionnaires and structured interviews with 600 patients. These patients were found to ignore the fact that special regulations exist regarding their rights. They considered their right to information was being respected, albeit to different degrees. Many patients allowed their doctors to make decisions. The right to confidentiality was not considered as a major priority by these patients because they doubted its applicability. They hesitated to protest when their rights were being violated. They thought that the most effective way of protecting their rights is either through the existence of someone with specialized knowledge or an internal hospital committee. These Greek patients appeared to be relatively satisfied with the way in which their rights were being exercised in hospital. However, a number of improvements could increase patient satisfaction regarding this issue.
Adult↗
Attitudes of a Mediterranean population to the truth-telling issue.
The attitudes of the Greeks, a Mediterranean population, to the issue of telling the truth to the patient have been studied. There is no clear answer to the question: 'Do the Greeks wish to be informed of the nature of their illness?'. The answer is: 'It depends'. It depends on age, education, family status, occupation, place of birth and residence and on whether or not they are religious people. However, it does not depend on their sex--men and women have similar reactions to the issue of truth-telling. Although the present study shows lower percentages of those who wish to know the truth than studies on other populations, the conclusion is that, emphasising the need for good communication between doctors and patients, doctors should not lie, but should disclose to their patients the part of the truth they are ready to accept.
Adult↗
An evaluation of the effectiveness of tobacco-control legislative policies in European Community countries.
The purpose of this paper was to assess the effectiveness of anti-tobacco smoking legislation from 1948 onwards in reducing actual per capita tobacco consumption in the twelve countries of the European Economic Community (EEC). In order to undertake these assessments a score was assigned to every legislative measure, indicating the a priori likely impact of this measure on tobacco consumption. Two approaches were then utilized. In the first, it was found that the cumulative anti-tobacco legislative score correlates well in time with a reduction of tobacco consumption. In the second, cross-sectional data from the EEC countries and multiple regression modelling were used to estimate the elasticities of tobacco price, per capita income and cumulative anti-tobacco legislation score; it was found that legislation has an impact on tobacco consumption which, although considerably smaller than the corresponding impact of tobacco price levels, is nominally significant and potentially important. The evaluative approaches utilized in this paper are based on observational data of ecologic nature and can provide only weak evidence about the causal nature of the reported associations. Nevertheless, this limited evidence suggests that legislative measures may be effective both by affecting price levels and through other mechanisms, including health education and the formation of a more general anti-smoking ethos.
Europe↗
Psychological stress and fatal heart attack: the Athens (1981) earthquake natural experiment.
The effects of acute and subacute psychological stress caused by a sudden general disaster on mortality from atherosclerotic heart disease (underlying cause) and cardiac events (proximate cause) were investigated by comparing total and cause-specific mortality during the days after a major earthquake in Athens in 1981 with the mortality during the surrounding month and the corresponding periods of 1980 and 1982. There was an excess of deaths from cardiac and external causes on the days after the major earthquake, but no excess of deaths from cancer and little, if any, excess of deaths from other causes. The excess mortality was more evident when atherosclerotic heart disease was considered as the underlying cause (5, 7, and 8 deaths on the first three days, respectively; background mean deaths per day 2.6; upper 95th centile 5) than when cardiac events in general were considered as the proximate cause (9, 11, and 14 deaths on the first three days, respectively; background mean 7.1, upper 95th centile 12).
Acute Disease↗