Medical ethical standards in dermatology: an analytical study of knowledge, attitudes and practices

Background Dermatology practice has not been ethically justified at all times. Objective The objective of the study was to find out dermatologists' knowledge about medical ethics, their attitudes towards regulatory measures and their practices, and to study the different factors influencing the...

Full description

Saved in:

Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology Vol. 29; no. 1; pp. 143 - 147
Main Authors:	Mostafa, W.Z., Abdel Hay, R.M., El Lawindi, M.I.
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	England Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01-01-2015
Subjects:	Adult Attitude of Health Personnel Biomedical Research - ethics Biomedical Research - standards Cosmetic Techniques - ethics Cross-Sectional Studies Dermatology - ethics Dermatology - legislation & jurisprudence Dermatology - statistics & numerical data Ethics, Medical Female Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice Humans Institutional Practice Male Practice Patterns, Physicians' - ethics Practice Patterns, Physicians' - standards Private Practice Sex Factors Surveys and Questionnaires Young Adult
Online Access:	Get full text
Tags:	Add Tag No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!

Description
Summary:	Background Dermatology practice has not been ethically justified at all times. Objective The objective of the study was to find out dermatologists' knowledge about medical ethics, their attitudes towards regulatory measures and their practices, and to study the different factors influencing the knowledge, the attitude and the practices of dermatologists. Methods This is a cross‐sectional comparative study conducted among 214 dermatologists, from five Academic Universities and from participants in two conferences. A 54 items structured anonymous questionnaire was designed to describe the demographical characteristics of the study group as well as their knowledge, attitude and practices regarding the medical ethics standards in clinical and research settings. Five scoring indices were estimated regarding knowledge, attitude and practice. Inferential statistics were used to test differences between groups as indicated. The Student's t‐test and analysis of variance were carried out for quantitative variables. The chi‐squared test was conducted for qualitative variables. The results were considered statistically significant at a P > 0.05. Results Analysis of the possible factors having impact on the overall scores revealed that the highest knowledge scores were among dermatologists who practice in an academic setting plus an additional place; however, this difference was statistically non‐significant (P = 0.060). Female dermatologists showed a higher attitude score compared to males (P = 0.028). The highest significant attitude score (P = 0.019) regarding clinical practice was recorded among those practicing cosmetic dermatology. The different studied groups of dermatologists revealed a significant impact on the attitude score (P = 0.049), and the evidence‐practice score (P < 0.001). Conclusion Ethical practices will improve the quality and integrity of dermatology research.
Bibliography:	ark:/67375/WNG-GWNFH9KL-2 Appendix S1. Questionnaire for dermatologists. istex:E3A88FBB1B698D2E2BAA976BC39534A4B2047786 ArticleID:JDV12489 ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23
ISSN:	0926-9959 1468-3083
DOI:	10.1111/jdv.12489