The precedent of defensive medicine practice among physicians with a glance at the impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic

Abstract

AbstractThe practice of defensive medicine is highly evident with the purpose of the legal self‐interest of physicians. It might be widely increased during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic to avoid lawsuits, especially in the absence of specific effective treatment. This study aimed to evaluate the practice of defensive medicine among the Egyptian physicians, and to identify the impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on malpractice suits. An electronic survey link was sent to the sampled physicians working at Faculty of Medicine, Tanta University Hospitals. It included personal information, two questions measuring the physicians' perceptions about defensive medicine, Defensive Medicine Behavior Scale (DMBS) and eight questions evaluating physicians' concerns in terms of the COVID‐19 pandemic effects. The study enrolled 1074 physicians; 78.5% of them didn't possess sufficient knowledge about defensive medicine. About 73% of participants practiced defensive medicine more after the COVID‐19 pandemic, and 68.2% demonstrated increasing concerns about malpractice suits after the emergence of COVID‐19. DMBS was statistically significant high among surgical specialties physicians and those who spent less duration in the field of their expertise. There is a need to legislate a malpractice law to control the precedent increase of defensive medicine practice in Egypt. This will help to control the prevalence of defensive medicine practice, improve the quality of care, and reduce healthcare costs.