Physicians' Attitudes Toward Reporting Medical Errors-An Observational Study at a General Hospital in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

: The physicians in our study are likely to disclose errors made by a colleague only if the error resulted in a severe damage to the patient, and as such, medical errors go underreported for a variety of reasons. It was felt that assurance of confidentiality and protection from backlash would promote medical error disclosure.

Physicians’ knowledge and practice towards medical error reporting: a cross-sectional hospital-based study in Saudi Arabia

“…The questionnaire used in this study was developed and previously validated by the study group (14). It was divided into 6 sections.…”

“…It was believed that the assurance of confidentiality and protection from repercussions would increase medical error disclosure (14). In the current article, we present the results of physicians' knowledge about the occurrence, frequency and causes of medical errors and their personal practice of medical error reporting.…”

“…We have previously reported on the attitude of physicians toward reporting medical errors in a sample of health-care providers in Saudi Arabia and determined that physicians are likely to disclose errors made by a colleague only if the error resulted in severe damage to the patient; thus, many medical errors go under-reported (14). It was believed that the assurance of confidentiality and protection from repercussions would increase medical error disclosure (14).…”

How does the new developed curriculum affect the perception of medical graduates at King Abdulaziz University about professionalism?

“…The increased positive attitude might be attributed to the added professionalism part. One might also argue that the differences between the results of this part of the study and the studies of both Des Roches 16 and Alsafi 17 might be attributed to the religious beliefs of the interns but this cannot explain the increased positive attitude that was found when compared to Eldeek et al 12 An interesting finding of this study is that it showed that the ideas of medical graduates from KAUH about professionalism are formed from studying in the clinical years, then working with consultants and specialist and senior interns at the hospital, and third working with hospital staff. In contrast to the previous study 12 which revealed that sources of professionalism came from the clinical setting, both by input from seniors and by that from peers.…”

“…17 The latter studies found that interns tend to ignore reporting a fellow physician because of the fear of repercussions and the beliefs of lack of obligation. The increased positive attitude might be attributed to the added professionalism part.…”