Informed Consent in Decision-Making in Pediatric Practice

TLDR

Informed consent is essential to health care, involving parental permission and child assent, and pediatric practice uniquely allows increasing inclusion of children’s and adolescents’ opinions as they mature. The report aims to support the policy statement by providing background on informed consent, surrogate decision‑making, child and adolescent decision‑making, and adolescent assent and refusal. The report accompanies the policy statement and outlines the nature of informed consent, surrogate decision‑making, child and adolescent decision‑making, and special issues in adolescent consent, assent, and refusal. The technical report was reaffirmed in January 2023.

Abstract

This Technical Report was reaffirmed January 2023. Informed consent should be seen as an essential part of health care practice; parental permission and childhood assent is an active process that engages patients, both adults and children, in their health care. Pediatric practice is unique in that developmental maturation allows, over time, for increasing inclusion of the child’s and adolescent’s opinion in medical decision-making in clinical practice and research. This technical report, which accompanies the policy statement “Informed Consent in Decision-Making in Pediatric Practice” was written to provide a broader background on the nature of informed consent, surrogate decision-making in pediatric practice, information on child and adolescent decision-making, and special issues in adolescent informed consent, assent, and refusal. It is anticipated that this information will help provide support for the recommendations included in the policy statement.