The writing of informed consent in accessible language: Difficulties

Abstract

In order to assess the adequacy of informed consent terminology of research projects developed at the Clementino Fraga Filho University Hospital (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro), we conducted a review study on the terminology found in 55 projects (2008- 20013). Such projects belonged to different medical specialties and were all registered in the hospital’s Ethics in Research Committee. Patients had difficulty in understanding the meanings of 76 medical terms and expressions; only 12 of them could be replaced. On the other hand, the present study reached the conclusion that, in most cases, the writing with scientific terms is essential in items such as justification/objectives and procedures, being insurmountable obstacles to the participants of this research and patients’ understanding.