title: Assessment of patients' awareness of their rights in teaching hospitals in Iran.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Respecting patients' rights is an essential component in health care. Passing a regulation is not a guarantee for the protection of patients' rights. This article aimed to assess patients' awareness of the contents of the Patient's Bill of Rights in Iran and to determine if they had received a service compatible with their rights charter.
  
  
  METHODS
  This is a descriptive study in 202 hospitalised patients. A questionnaire was used, and associations between variables were examined using Pearson's correlation test. The significance level was p < .05.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The patients' ages ranged from 18 to 87 years of age, 33% were male and 79% were married. Patients' knowledge was lowest regarding the need for consent for the treatment process and was highest regarding the patient's right to know the expertise of the treatment team. The mean of patients' knowledge was 77.56%. As for patients' exercising their rights, the highest score belonged to the patient's right for attending doctors and treatment team's confidentiality; the lowest score belonged to the right to receive necessary information about probable complications, other treatment options and participation in the final selection of treatment method. The mean score of patient satisfaction was 8.06 (out of 11). There was no significant relationship with their education level or the number of admissions.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Health-care professionals can provide care based on patients' rights, and their knowledge of patients' rights needs to be evaluated. Educational programmes, leaflets, booklets and posters can be helpful in this regard. In addition, professional organisations and the Ministry of Health need to be more sensitive to this issue.
authors.affiliation: Medical Ethics Department, School of Traditional Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Iran.
authors.forename: Shabnam
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bazmi
authors.affiliation: Medical Ethics Department, School of Traditional Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Iran kiani1341@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Mehrzad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kiani
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health and Safety Promotion and Injury Prevention Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Iran.
authors.forename: Seyed Saeed
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Hashemi Nazari
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine; Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Iran.
authors.forename: Mona
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kakavand
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine; Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Iran.
authors.forename: Razieh
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mahmoodzade
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006784:Hospitals, Teaching; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D028701:Patient Rights; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Patients’ rights; awareness; patient satisfaction