Investigation of the effect of factors related to defensive medicine practice characteristics and burnout levels of family physicians working in primary care

Defensive medicine is defined as deviation from medical practice standards in order to avoid claims related to medical malpractice. Our study aimed to investigate the factors related to defensive medicine practices of family physicians working throughout Turkey and the effect of burnout levels on defensive medicine practices. Our study is a prospective cross-sectional survey study; It was held between August 2023 and November 2023 with the participation of 569 family physicians, assistants, practitioners and specialists, in provinces across Turkey. Research data was obtained online with a 58-question survey including the Defensive Medicine Practices Attitude Scale and the Maslach Burnout Scale. 569 physicians were included in our study. 85.8% of the participants reported that they had heard of the concept of defensive medicine practices before, but 60.3% did not have sufficient knowledge about the content of the concept of defensive medicine practices. We did not detect a statistically significant difference between marital status, title and the region where physicians work and defensive medicine total and subscale scores. . Physicians who considered themselves likely to be sued in the next 10 years had higher MTS total, emotional and depersonalization subscale median scores. A statistically significant negative correlation was found between defensive medicine knowledge level and MTS total and MTS emotional and depersonalization subscale scores. As a result, it is an issue that needs to be focused on and solved due to the results of defensive medicine practices and burnout in physicians. In our study, a statistically significant positive correlation was detected between the defensive medicine attitude scale total score, positive and negative defensive medicine subscale score, and MTS total, MTS emotional subscale and MTS depersonalization subscale scores; It suggested that measures to be taken to reduce the level of burnout in physicians would lead to a decrease in defensive medicine practices. Key Words: Defensive Medicine, Burnout Syndrome