Bob,

create a guideline that forms a basis for risk assessment and comparison and there a guideline that perhaps suggests what is the industry standard as it relates to risk and therefore concent, and furthermore at what level of risk down signed, informed concent become essential
I don't disagree and I certainly see your point. In a perfect world there would be an established framework for risk assesment, there'd be a cut off point and practitioners would let patients know that there are risks involved in treatment that are lower than that point and could give patients the choice to discuss what those risks are prior to treatment. Arguably, that point could be 'risk of daily living' and arguably, practitioners could currently manage consent in that way.

On the research front - I'd argue that the research is likely to translate to other patient cohorts as primarily consent is about informing patients about risk. I'd accept that procedure complexity may affect research outcomes however I have a suspicion that the moment a physiotherapist indicates that risks are lower than that encountered in daily living, patients are going to be entirely comfortable with the risks.

What do other people think?