Table 5.
Attitudes and Demographic Variables Associated with Actual Disclosure of Errors among Faculty and Resident Physicians
| Attitude* or variable | Percent of respondents who reported actual disclosure of an error resulting in minor or major harm | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minor† harm | p value | Major‡ harm | p value | |
| I feel an obligation to tell the facts necessary to understand what happened | ||||
| % agreeing | 50 | 0.05 | 5 | 0.87 |
| % disagreeing | 25 | 6 | ||
| I feel an obligation to make it clear that what happened was a mistake | ||||
| % agreeing | 49 | 0.77 | 6 | 0.65 |
| % disagreeing | 51 | 4 | ||
| Disclosure is right even if it comes at a significant personal cost | ||||
| % agreeing | 50 | 0.44 | 6 | 0.5 |
| % disagreeing | 42 | 3 | ||
| Disclosure is important because that is how I would want to be treated | ||||
| % agreeing | 49 | 0.49 | 5 | 0.75 |
| % disagreeing | 42 | 7 | ||
| Disclosure would help alleviate my feelings of guilt | ||||
| % agreeing | 45 | 0.07 | 3 | 0.02 |
| % disagreeing | 56 | 9 | ||
| Disclosure strengthens my patient’s trust in me | ||||
| % agreeing | 50 | 0.73 | 6 | 0.33 |
| % disagreeing | 48 | 4 | ||
| My decision to disclose depends on whether I think the information will help or harm the patient | ||||
| % agreeing | 41 | 0.07 | 4 | 0.31 |
| % disagreeing | 52 | 6 | ||
| When I make a medical mistake, I am my own worst critic | ||||
| % agreeing | 50 | 0.33 | 5 | 0.5 |
| % disagreeing | 39 | 8 | ||
| Forgiveness is an important part of my spiritual or religious belief system | ||||
| % agreeing | 48 | 0.83 | 4 | 0.03 |
| % disagreeing | 50 | 12 | ||
| Gender | ||||
| Male | 47 | 0.56 | 4 | 0.2 |
| Female | 51 | 7 | ||
| Training level | ||||
| Faculty | 67 | <0.001 | 9 | 0.009 |
| Residents | 37 | 3 | ||
| Specialty | ||||
| Pediatrics | 49 | 0.62 | 5 | 0.97 |
| Family medicine | 57 | 6 | ||
| Internal medicine | 47 | 5 | ||
| Have provided medical testimony in a legal deposition that was not related to a malpractice case | ||||
| Yes | 67 | 0.001 | 11 | 0.01 |
| No | 43 | 4 | ||
| Have provided medical testimony in a legal deposition that was related to a malpractice case | ||||
| Yes | 75 | <0.001 | 11 | 0.07 |
| No | 44 | 4 | ||
| Have been named as a defendant in a malpractice case | ||||
| Yes | 88 | <0.001 | 7 | 0.7 |
| No | 44 | 5 | ||
p values were calculated using the 2-tailed Fisher’s exact test or the chi square statistic.
*See Table 4 for verbatim statements of questions.
†Error resulting in minor harm was defined as a mistake that prolonged treatment or caused discomfort.
‡Error resulting in major harm was defined as a mistake that caused disability or death.