Communication doctor-patient and informed consent in Portugal

Introduction – The informed consent (IC) for performing medical procedures is influenced by communication between the doctor and the patient, although the impact of some of the communication determinants between these actors is unknown. Purpose – To identify and analyse those determinants influencing the ethical duty to inform in order to obtain an informed consent. Methods – The search for original research papers written in Portugal, between January 2005 and March 2015, involved Scholar Google, PubMed, B-ON and the Portuguese Scientific Open Access Repository electronic databases, by using the keywords ‘consentimento informado’, ‘médico’ and ‘doente’ ou ‘informed consent’, ‘doctor’ and ‘patient’. Results – Five papers meeting the inclusion criteria were identified and communication determinants in the doctor-patient relationship were found to influence the free and clear IC. Conclusion – The knowledge of the importance of these communicational determinants influencing the IC can help the doctor-patient interaction and the development of measures to improve the healthcare performance