Abstract
Abstract
Background
Attention towards patient safety is growing worldwide, as reducing the incidence and cost of adverse events has become a priority. While international medical ethics laws encourage open communication with patients and their families, they do not guarantee that healthcare providers will disclose information about medical errors or take responsibility for what happened. In international studies, whether clinicians should self-report errors remains in question. Thus, this study aims to assess the knowledge and attitudes about medical error disclosure and explore the factors that facilitate or hinder the disclosure in Saudi tertiary hospitals.
Methods
One hundred internal medical residents completed the study questionnaire between April 2023 and May 2023. Of the participants, 74 were female, 75 were either in Year 1(R1) or Year 2 (R2) of their internal medicine residency programme, 45 spent over 80% of their time in direct patient care, and 100% provided inpatient services. The sample was selected from a tertiary hospital in Saudi Arabia through simple random sampling. Descriptive and bivariate analyses and chi-square tests were conducted to identify the factors associated with medical error disclosure and willingness to be open with patients.
Results
This study identified a gap between physicians’ hypothetical aptitude and their actual practices regarding disclosing medical errors to patients. A link was found between the underreporting of medical errors and physicians’ low training levels and time spent in providing direct patient care and inpatient services.
Conclusion
The findings of this study have important implications for patient safety. By understanding the factors that influence physicians' decisions to disclose errors, interventions can be undertaken to increase the rates of error disclosure. This can help prevent errors, improve patient outcomes, and build trust between patients and their physicians.
Publisher
Research Square Platform LLC