BackgroundObstetrics and gynaecology always has reputation for being a highly litigious. The field of obstetrics and gynaecology is surrounded by different circumstances that stimulate the doctors to practice defensive medicine.MethodsThis study was directed to assess the extent and the possible effect of defensive medicine phenomenon (in term of knowledge and prevalence) on medical decision making among different grades of obstetric and gynaecologic Sudanese doctors, and to determine any experience of medical litigations with respect to sources and factors associated with it (in term of area of work, characteristics of the area at which the doctors worked, professionalism, hospitals systems…ect).ResultsA total of 117 doctors were approached, their distribution according to job description was as follow: consultants (42.7 %, 50\117) registrars (34.2 %, 40\117) and specialists (23.1 %, 27\117). The majority 89.7 % had the impression that litigation against doctors are increasing and 27.6 % had a direct experience of litigation. In this study less than one half (42.7 %) of the surveyed doctors knew the concept of defensive medicine and 71.8 % reported practicing one or another form of defensive medicine. The different sources of the litigations reported by the doctors included: maternal death (n = 15), perinatal death (n = 5), other {misdiagnosis, intra-uterine fetal death, uterine perforation, rupture uterus} (n = 4), fetal distress (n = 3), injury to viscera (n = 3) and shoulder dystocia (n = 2). In this study the experience of medical litigation was significantly observed among those who worked in area of blame culture (90.6 % Vs 56.5 %, P = 0.000). In logistic regression model, there was no significant difference between those who knew the concept of defence medicine and those who didn’t.ConclusionThere should be strategic plan to reduce the practice of defensive medicine and medical litigation against doctors.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12910-016-0095-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Cervical cancer is the second most common women cancer worldwide, accounting for 13% of female cancers. It ranks as the second most frequent cancer among women after breast cancer in Sudan as well as other developing countries. This study seeks to assess the knowledge, and the attitude of female staff and students of undergraduate nursing students of Khartoum universities, Sudan, towards cervical cancer prevention.A structured interview questionnaire was used for data collection; the questions were made to capture the objectives of the study. Most of the students (84.0%) were not aware of other screening methods than Pap smear test and the burden of cervical cancer and its prevention (p = 0.000). Approximately half of the respondents (49.9%) have no complete information about the HPV vaccine. However, the other half showed positive attitudes towards HPV vaccination and were eager to recommend HPV vaccine to their family and other members of the community. More than two thirds of respondents exhibited positive attitude and were willing to undergo Pap smear in the future. The study shows that the majority of the participants have poor information about cervical cancer prevention. Education would motivate nurses to participate actively in awareness raising, screening, and management.

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