Physician breach of patient confidentiality among individuals with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection: patterns of decision.
Am J Public Health
; 80(7): 829-34, 1990 Jul.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-2356907
ABSTRACT
To determine whether the sex, race, or sexual preference of a patient infected with immunodeficiency virus (HIV) influences a physician's decision to breach patient confidentiality, Tennessee primary care physicians were mailed a questionnaire containing a case study in which an HIV-infected patient presented a risk to a third party. Eight different descriptions of the sex, race, and sexual preference of the hypothetical patient were distributed randomly among the physicians, one description to each physician. The physicians were asked to decide whether to maintain confidentiality, notify the health department, or inform the patient's partner. Responses of 199 White male physicians were analyzed using an unconditional saturated logistic regression model. The odds ratios for these physicians saying they would send the patient's antibody status to the health department extend from 18.4 (95 percent confidence interval 1.3, 260.1) for Black homosexual males to .5 (95 percent CI 0, 11.5) for White homosexual females. The odds ratios for White male physicians saying they would inform the patient's partner range from 7.5 (95 percent CI .8, 69.2) for Black heterosexual males to 1.0 (reference category) for Black homosexual females. The results suggest that when physicians decide to protect a third party by breaching an HIV-infected patient's confidentiality, their decision may be influenced in some cases by the race, sex, and sexual preference of the patient.
Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Relações Médico-Paciente
/
Infecções por HIV
/
Confidencialidade
Tipo de estudo:
Clinical_trials
/
Etiology_studies
/
Prognostic_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Limite:
Adult
/
Female
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Humans
/
Male
País/Região como assunto:
America do norte
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Am J Public Health
Ano de publicação:
1990
Tipo de documento:
Article