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. 2025 Jul 1;25(1):862.
doi: 10.1186/s12909-025-07431-0.

Patient's awareness of their right and factors associated with it: a scoping review, 2024

Kumlachew Geta Belete  1 , Efrem Fenta  2 , Natnael Moges  3 , Temesgen Birlie Asmare  2 , Negesse Zurbachew  2 , Biruk Demissie  4 , Basazinew Chekol  2 , Habtie Bantider  2 , Amanuel Sisay  5 , Abere Gebru  3 , Driba Teshome  2
Affiliations

Patient's awareness of their right and factors associated with it: a scoping review, 2024

Kumlachew Geta Belete et al. BMC Med Educ. .

Abstract

Background: The purpose of this scoping review was how patients awareness of their right and factors associated with it frameworks across the literature.

Objective: A scoping review was conducted in order to systematically map the research done in patient's right awareness, as well as to identify any existing gaps in knowledge. And research question was formulated: What is known from the literature about patient's right, awareness of their right.

Methods: A scoping review of literatures published in English was conducted using search engines: PubMed/MEDLINE, Cochrane Library, Google Scholar, Scopus, AJOL, and Google for an institutional repository, from the beginning to December 15, 2024.

Results: Application of the search strategy resulted in a total of 3920 articles. Twenty Two articles met inclusion criteria, of which 21 were analytical studies; 1 were descriptive research. Among this 22 studies, patient's awareness of their right ranges from 4.6 to 90%. Five factors are analyzed in common these are education level, age of the participant, number of hospital admission (previous admission history), gender and residency of the participant.

Conclusion: This scoping review concludes that patient awareness is generally low, with various factors influencing it. However, studies conducted globally employ different methods, tools, and definitions of the issue. Therefore, further research is needed to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis in the future.

Keywords: Health literacy; Healthcare rights; Patient education; Scoping review.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: Not applicable. Consent for publication: Not applicable. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests. Methodology statement: All methods (citations, competing interest, and data availability statement) were performed in accordance with the relevant guidelines and regulations.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
PRISMA flow diagram depicting search results
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Universal. Declaration of Human Rights.
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    1. Fernandes AB, D’Cunha S, Suresh S. Patient’s rights: awareness and practice in a tertiary care Indian hospital. Int J Res Foundation Hosp Healthc Adm. 2014;2(1):25–30.
    1. Gurung S, Sapkota R, AWARENESS REGARDING PATIENT’S RIGHTS AMONG HOSPITALIZED, PATIENTS IN A HOSPITAL OF RUPANDEHI. J Univers Coll Med Sci. 2019;7(1).
    1. Arksey H, O’Malley L. Scoping studies: towards a methodological framework. Int J Soc Res Methodol. 2005;8(1):19–32.

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