The conditional role of personal information-security norms in prosocial patient information disclosure among health professions students.

PURPOSE: This study examined whether perceived medical need for disclosure (PMND) predicts prosocial intention to disclose patient information (PI) among health professional students, and whether personal norms (PN) moderate this relationship. A particular focus was PN's dual statistical role-its direct association with PI and its moderation of the PMND-PI association.

METHODS

A cross-sectional survey was administered to 210 undergraduate students at a single Korean university (116 medical, 42 nursing, 52 emergency medical services). Participants were randomly assigned to one of four scenarios (2×2: disease severity × information security environment). Four-step hierarchical regression and simple slope analyses tested the main and moderating effects.

RESULTS

PMND positively predicted PI (β=0.347, p<0.001). PN exerted a significant negative direct effect on PI (β=-0.148, p<0.05) yet significantly amplified the PMND-PI relationship via a positive interaction (β=0.165, p<0.05). Simple slope analyses confirmed that the effect of PMND on PI strengthened progressively from low PN (estimate= 0.194, p=0.069) through average PN (estimate=0.380, p<0.001) to high PN (estimate= 0.567, p<0.001).

CONCLUSION

PN showed a double-edged statistical role: a negative direct association with disclosure intention alongside a positive moderating association that amplified the link between perceived medical need and prosocial disclosure intention. These findings suggest that health professional education may need to go beyond merely reinforcing PN and offer training differentiated by students' levels of PN, helping them channel moral obligation through lawful procedures in clinically charged situations.