ABSTRACT

Objective : This study aimed to investigate the degree and characteristics regarding the awareness of bioethics among the occupational therapists. Methods : This study used question set from a bioethical research by Kwon(2003) which was agreed with the author. A questionnaire was composed of 49 questions in 9 subitems regarding the general characteristics of the respondents and their bioethics. The questionnaires were distributed and returned in person or by mail. Except for the questionnaires lacking respondent integrity, 272 out of 293 questionnaires were analyzed. Descriptive statistics, an independent ttest, and a oneway ANOVA were conducted using SPSS 18.0. As for the posthoc test, Scheffe’s test was used. Results : Although the degree of bioethics awareness among the occupational therapists was higher than the median, they felt confused in making decisions because their ethical values were not established. In addition, they found difficulty in dealing with bioethical problems. Conclusion : This study is expected to serve as primary materials in developing a program that will establish sound bioethics awareness for occupational therapists.