Health rights knowledge among medical school students at King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

BACKGROUND Health care is a basic human right, and Saudi Arabia affirms these rights for all its citizens. OBJECTIVES To assess the knowledge of medical students regarding health rights in Saudi Arabia. METHODS This cross-sectional study was conducted at King Abdulaziz University (KAU) from September 2015 through November 2015. A questionnaire written in English collected demographic data and included questions about reproductive health care and health rights of women and patients with cancer, senility, or special needs. RESULTS Of the 267 participants, 184 (68.9%) were female, and 252 (94.4%) were Saudi. Regarding consent, 87 (32.6%) and 113 (42.3%) participants believed a female patient required the consent of a male guardian to receive medical treatment or surgery, respectively, in Saudi Arabia, and only 106 (39.7%) knew that a female patient could provide consent for a caesarean section. Sixty-six (24.7%) believed that abortion is never allowed in Islam. Only 93 (34.8%) were aware that acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) patients had health rights, about half (144, 53.9%) knew that cancer patients have a right to full information, and most (181, 67.8%) believed that a patient had the right to withhold health information from his/her family. Approximately half were aware that cancer patients have the right to free medical treatment (138, 51.7%) or that health rights applied to special needs patients (137, 51.3%) and senile patients (122, 45.7%). CONCLUSIONS The knowledge of KAU medical students regarding health rights of certain patient populations highlights the importance of health rights education in medical school.