Health Students' Perspectives on Patient Confidentiality and Record-Keeping Ethics

Abstract

Background: Various medical communities and associations have approved codes of ethics that place a significant emphasis on the importance of maintaining privacy and confidentiality. Students have been expected to respect patients’ rights. Aim: This study aimed to investigate health sector university students’ level of knowledge and attitudes toward the importance of patient confidentiality of information. Methods: The study utilized a convenient sampling method to select 402 health sector students from universities in Saudi Arabia. The study adopted a cross-sectional design, including all students studying health specialties at Saudi universities. The study was conducted for all students of health specialties at Saudi Universities. The study was performed from October 12, 2022, to February 20, 2023. The questionnaire consisted of three sections focusing on knowledge, attitudes, and demographic characteristics.

Results: Overall, most participating students have good level of knowledge (66%) and positive attitudes (53%) toward maintaining patient confidentiality.