Analyzed informed consent in diabetic patients undergoing cataract surgery at teaching centers

Cataract surgery is one of the most commonly performed surgeries in the United States. Surgical training is a necessary facet of ophthalmology residency training programs but resident involvement in cataract surgery remains a significant problem in terms of full disclosure and patient agreement. The purpose of this project was to identify factors associated with agreement/disagreement to resident involvement for diabetic and non-diabetic patients. Data from a semi-structured interview were analyzed to compare non-diabetic and diabetic participants. Chi square test with odds ratios were used to determine the association between diabetes status and agreement to resident involvement and between diabetes and factors associated with resident involvement. Diabetics comprised 24.74% of the 97 respondents. The primary factor associated with agreeing to resident involvement for diabetic respondents included having a positive doctor-patient relationship with the attending while the primary factor for non-diabetic respondents was the belief that hands-on experience is a requirement for learning. In terms of disagreeing to resident involvement, diabetic patients cited having a positive doctor-patient with the attending and for non-diabetic respondents, perceived risk of resident involvement. Independent of diabetes status, both groups acknowledged a need for residency training (98%) but personal responsibility in training residents varied. Study findings support that full disclosure can benefit residency training. Further research is needed to determine best practices for patient education on residency training and health professional communication skills.