Assessment of relationship between physicians' medical error perceptions, attitudes and fear of malpractice

Medical error is common and important health issues. Physicians might be complained and sued for alleged medical error. This results in malpractice fear, which leads attitude and behavior change of physicians. Purpose of this study is to present relationships between physicians' medical error perceptions, medical error attitudes and, malpractice fear. Additionally, the other purpose of this study is to evaluate whether physicians' medical error perceptions, medical error attitudes, and malpractice fear are affected by malpractice experience and socio-demographic characteristics. This study was conducted on 248 physicians working in a public hospital. Data of this study was collected by a survey form. Analysis of collected data was performed by SPSS 23 and AMOS Statistical Software. In statistical analysis, construct validity of measurement tools used in this study was evaluated by exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. For hypothesis analysis, parametric and non-parametric tests were used along with structural regression analysis. In findings, physicians' malpractice fear was determined at quite a high level. Physicians' negative experiences about malpractice and their medical error perceptions were found to positively affect their malpractice fear. Although physicians' medical error attitudes were positive, it was seen that these attitudes didn't turn into actual behavior. Additionally, it was seen that knowledge levels of physicians about medical error and malpractice were at a low level and most of the physicians didn't know how to report a medical error. To prevent unnecessary malpractice complains and lawsuits, patients must be sufficiently informed about the risks in the nature of medical procedures. Work conditions, which is perceived as an effective factor in medical error occurrence by physicians must be improved.