Physicians' Knowledge, Attitude and Practice Regarding Medical Errors: Cross Sectional Study in Governmental Hospitals in Cairo

Abstract Background Medical errors are inevitable events in almost all healthcare settings and represent a major source of morbidity and mortality throughout the world. In Egypt, medical error is one of the most distressing issues facing the physicians due to absence of settled laws regarding medical malpractice litigations and unjustified social media which flare up any medical error without scientific criticism of the case. This study aimed to assess physicians’ knowledge and attitude toward medical errors and their reported incidence of medical errors and their leading factors. Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted on physicians working in governmental hospitals in Cairo, with duration of work experience equal or more than two years. An online self-administered structured questionnaire was used for data collection. Results The study included 580 physicians, with different specialties. There was no significant difference either in knowledge or practice score between the respondent physicians according to their personal characteristics. Diagnostic errors were the most common errors reported by the participants (either missed diagnosis 73.4%, delayed diagnosis 71.3% or wrong diagnosis 58.4%); followed by failure of communication (between medical staff 53.4% and with the patient 47.5%). Incidence of infection or contamination was the most reported surgical error (32.5%) and inadequate preoperative assessment and/or preparation of patient was the most common anesthetic error (27.7%). Regarding the resulting damage from the errors, 7.8% of the participants reported incidence of patient’s death, 4.7% of them reported incidence of severe physical damage, 26.6% reported by mild-to - moderate physical damage and 31.7% of them reported financial damage. Most of them reported defensive medicine practices. Conclusions Participants’ knowledge about medical responsibility was insufficient. Although most of them reported incidence of medical errors, they recommended establishment of guiding system helping them to disclose incidence of errors and taking actions to prevent them in the future.