Development and validation of an instrument to measure physician awareness of bioethics and medical law in Oman
Autor: | Nusaiba A. Al-Mawali, Abdullah Al-Mujaini, Maryam K. Al-Rawahi, Nadiya S. Al-Kharousi, Anuradha Ganesh, Mohammed Al-Alawi, Samir Al-Adawi, Ahmed Al-Busaidi, Yahya M. Al-Farsi |
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Jazyk: | angličtina |
Rok vydání: | 2021 |
Předmět: |
OBMLA
medicine.medical_specialty Health (social science) Oman Cross-sectional study Medical philosophy. Medical ethics Medical law Medical ethics 03 medical and health sciences 0302 clinical medicine Cronbach's alpha Physicians Surveys and Questionnaires medicine Humans 030212 general & internal medicine 030504 nursing R723-726 Questionnaire Health Policy Construct validity Reproducibility of Results Bioethics Exploratory factor analysis Issues ethics and legal aspects Cross-Sectional Studies Philosophy of medicine Family medicine 0305 other medical science Psychology Research Article |
Zdroj: | BMC Medical Ethics, Vol 22, Iss 1, Pp 1-11 (2021) BMC Medical Ethics |
ISSN: | 1472-6939 |
Popis: | Background A different ethos with respect to the perception of medical ethics prevails in societies in transition such as those in the Arabian Peninsula, which makes it difficult to apply international principles of bioethics in medical practice. This study aimed to develop and psychometrically test an instrument that measures physicians’ awareness of bioethics and medical law and their attitudes towards the practice of medical ethics. Additionally, it examined physician correlates influencing the awareness of bioethics. Methods Following a rigorous review of relevant literature by a panel of experts, a 13-item instrument, the Omani physicians’ bioethics and medical law awareness (OBMLA) questionnaire was developed with the aim of assessing physicians’ awareness of bioethics and medical law. The study tool’s construct validity and internal consistency reliability were examined by exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and Cronbach’s alpha. In a cross-sectional study, the questionnaire was distributed among a random sample of 200 physicians at a tertiary hospital in Muscat, Oman. Participant characteristics that may influence awareness of bioethics and medical law were explored. Results The EFA of the OBMLA questionnaire resulted in three well-loading factors: (1) Physicians’ bioethics practice subscale (2) incentive related bioethics subscale and (3) medical law awareness subscale. Internal consistency reliability ranged between Cronbach’s α: 0.73–0.8. Of the total 200 participants, 52% reported that teaching medical ethics during medical school was inadequate. The overall mean (standard deviation, SD) of the bioethics awareness score and Omani medical law awareness were 27.6 (3.5) and 10.1 (2.1) respectively. The majority of physicians (73%) reported that they frequently encountered ethical dilemmas in their practice and 24.5% endorsed the view that unethical decisions tended to occur in their practice. Conclusion The study provides an insight into the practice of bioethics, and the awareness of bioethics and medical law among physicians in a teaching hospital in Oman. The OBMLA questionnaire appears to be a valid and reliable tool to assess a physician’s awareness of bioethics and medical law. In this preliminary study, it appears that participants have suboptimal scores on the indices which measure practice and awareness of bioethics and medical law. |
Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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