Patients’ attitudes towards privacy in a Nepalese public hospital: a cross-sectional survey

The majority of patients (58%) stated that they were not comfortable having other patients in the same room. A similar percentage (53%) did not want other patients to know their medical information but more patients were happy for nurses and other health staff to know (81%). Females and younger patients were more concerned to have privacy.The results challenge the conventional beliefs about patients’ privacy concerns in Nepal. They suggest that consideration should be given to re-organising existing outpatient facilities and planning future facilities to enable more privacy. The study has implications for other countries where similar conditions prevail. There is a need for more comprehensive research exploring this issue.Most people in western countries assume that privacy and confidentiality are part of normal medical consultations. The confidentiality of the doctor-patient relationship dates back to antiquity. The Hippocratic Oath states, “What I see or hear in the course of the treatment in regard to the life of men, which on no account one must spread abroad, I will keep to myself holding such things shameful to be spoken about”. Privacy is a broader term including physical privacy, informational privacy, protection of personal identity and the ability to make choices without interference [1].These things can be difficult to achieve in western settings and may involve complex judgements [2,3]. The knowledge of medical staff about principles of confidentiality can be lacking [4] and the expectations of patients very high [5]. In non-western settings expectations can be very different and the difficulties much greater. Many developing country consultations are conducted with several doctors in the same room, often at the same desk. There may be medical students as well, separately seeing patients. Patients each have one or two attendants and ancillary staff walk in and out freely. Privacy might mean occasionally pulling a screen around the examination bed. This s