The intention to disclose medical errors among doctors in a referral hospital in North Malaysia

Abstract

BackgroundIn this study, medical errors are defined as unintentional patient harm caused by a doctor’s mistake. This topic, due to limited research, is poorly understood in Malaysia. The objective of this study was to determine the proportion of doctors intending to disclose medical errors, and their attitudes/perception pertaining to medical errors.MethodsThis cross-sectional study was conducted at a tertiary public hospital from July- December 2015 among 276 randomly selected doctors. Data was collected using a standardized and validated self-administered questionnaire intending to measure disclosure and attitudes/perceptions. The scale had four vignettes in total two medical and two surgical. Each vignette consisted of five questions and each question measured the disclosure. Disclosure was categorised as “No Disclosure”, “Partial Disclosure” or “Full Disclosure”. Data was keyed in and analysed using STATA v 13.0.ResultsOnly 10.1% (n = 28) intended to disclose medical errors. Most respondents felt that they possessed an attitude/perception of adequately disclosing errors to patients. There was a statistically significant difference (p < 0.001) when comparing the intention of disclosure with perceived disclosures. Most respondents were in common agreement that disclosing an error would make them less likely to get sued, that minor errors should be reported and that they experienced relief from disclosing errors.ConclusionMost doctors in this study would not disclose medical errors although they perceived that the errors were serious and felt responsible for it. Poor disclosure could be due the fear of litigations and improper mechanisms/procedures available for disclosure.

Medication administration errors reporting by Neonatal Intensive Care Nurses in Malaysia: A nationwide study

“…Any option selected as not reporting in the scenarios would deem the nurses to "Not report errors". These criteria were adapted from a previous study [12]. Simple logistic regression was employed to determine the factors predicting incident reporting behaviors against the outcomes of medication error disclosures.…”

“…A local study [12] showed that only 10.1% of doctors in a regional referral hospital disclosed medical errors, and thus the same proportion was assumed for the reporting for nurses. Using a sample size calculator for a single proportion formula (EpiCalc 2000, v1.01) and setting the confidence interval at 95%, and the precision at 5%, the sample size required was 139.…”

“…Overall, the willingness to disclose medication errors reported by various countries ranged from 25.4% to 87.7% [6,9,[12][13][14][15]. In western countries, the prevalence of reporting an error ranged from 50.7% to 70.0% [6,14].…”

Physicians' Disclosure of Medical Error to Patient/Family: The Case of Saudi Arabia

“…These errors are an occurrence within the healthcare system as a consequence of its fragmented and decentralized nature [2,3]. Medical errors can be trivial or serious and life threatening and may result in patients making fully recovery, partial recovery, or death [4]. The prevalence of medical errors around the world is high, parallel investigations that have been conducted in the nations of the United Kingdom, Australia, Italy, Switzerland, and Denmark have shown that human errors in healthcare is a serious global public health concern [5].…”