Abstract
Background: Informed consent is not simply the signing of a form by the patient but
more significantly, a process of an in-depth communication between the doctor and
the patient.
Aim: The written informed consent process typically involves reading a lengthy docu-
ment involving the medical terms which at times lead to misinterpretation. Therefore,
the current research envisages assessing the effectiveness and acceptability of the
video consent tool athwart the traditional written consent procedure.
Methods: A retrospective questionnaire study was carried out with 30 patients posted
for Blepharoplasty surgery between ages of 18–50 years. They were divided into two
groups randomly. All the participants were given written consent. Video consent was
taken additionally for group 2 subjects. All the participants received pre-validated
questionnaire. The evaluation scale used was a 5-point Likert scale.
Results: People with video consent group were more satisfied with the consent pro-
cess. It was noted that all the patients who received video consent were happier and
understood the consent process better than patients with written consent only.
Conclusion: The inference drawn from our study depicts that video consent is not
just easy to understand and clarifies the doubts associated with the surgery but also
significantly reduces the anxiety of the patient preoperatively. Also, in other ‘quality
of life’ improving cosmetic procedures including rhinoplasty, face lift surgeries, jaw
surgeries, botox, fillers, lasers etc., video consenting tool can be used to a maximum
benefit. It is strongly recommended to adopt the practice of taking video consent
format in all forms of cosmetic procedures.
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Dr. Debraj Shome is Director and Co founder of The Esthetic Clinics. He has been rated amongst the top surgeons in India by multiple agencies. The Esthetic Clinics patients include many international and national celebrities who prefer to opt for facial cosmetic surgery and facial plastic surgery in Mumbai because The Esthetic Clinics has its headquarters there.