Breaking bad news from the doctors' perspective in a paternalistic society: the case of Sudan

Breaking bad news is a global challenge for all types of health providers. Our study assessed the attitude and practice from the doctors' perspective in a patriarchal society. A descriptive cross-sectional hospital-based study was conducted, involving doctors from both medical and surgical depa...

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Published inTropical doctor Vol. 48; no. 4; p. 340
Main Authors Muneer, Mohamed S, Elhassan, Ahmed E, Osman, Ahmed M, Abdalla, Abdelmohaymin A, Abdelrahim, Mohamed A, Ali, Suad M, Abdalrahman, Ihab B
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published England 01.10.2018
Subjects
Adult
Attitude of Health Personnel
Cross-Sectional Studies
Ethics, Professional
Female
Humans
Male
Patient Rights - ethics
Physician-Patient Relations - ethics
Sudan
Truth Disclosure - ethics
Sudan
practice
Healthcare workers
breaking bad news
Sudan
attitude
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Summary:Breaking bad news is a global challenge for all types of health providers. Our study assessed the attitude and practice from the doctors' perspective in a patriarchal society. A descriptive cross-sectional hospital-based study was conducted, involving doctors from both medical and surgical departments. Almost half of the respondents believed that Sudanese patients do not like to know their diagnosis, and a slightly higher proportion had no previous training on how to break bad news. Some 20% indicated that they would conceal the diagnosis from a patient if his or her relatives so requested. Less than one-quarter of respondents followed a standard protocol. Although most of the doctors subscribed to the notion that patients have the right to know everything about their illnesses, not all of them held this attitude towards their local patient population.
ISSN:1758-1133
DOI:10.1177/0049475518795765