Dental practitioners' perspectives about the consumer protection act, informed consent, and professional indemnity insurance in Bengaluru city: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Introduction: Dental profession saw unprecedented change during the last century. Worldwide, patients have become more aware of their right-legal literacy including India. Aim: The aim of this study was to assess the awareness of the Consumer Protection Act, practice of informed consent (IC), and the utilization of dental indemnity insurance among dental practitioners in Bengaluru city. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out among 310 dental practitioners in Bengaluru city. A prevalidated self-administered 30-item questionnaire was to assess the awareness about the Consumer Protection Act (CPA), knowledge and practice of IC, and utilization of professional indemnity insurance among practicing dentists. Results: There was an equal distribution between both the genders in the study. A total of 67% of the study participants were aware about CPA and only 50% of the participants responded that they had a practice of taking IC for every patient. Only 35% of participants had dental indemnity insurance. Age and qualification positively correlated with awareness of the CPA (P = 0.007); utilization of professional indemnity insurance is also associated with years of practice (P = 0.002). Conclusion: Majority had awareness regarding CPA but practice of taking consent and utilization of professional indemnity insurance among dental practitioners were less than adequate.

Keywords

• Consumer Protection Act
• dental practitioners
• indemnity insurance
• informed consent
• legal liability