Table 6.
Attitudes and Demographic Variables Associated with Hypothetical Error Disclosure among Faculty and Resident Physicians
| Attitude* or variable | Percent of respondents who would likely disclose an error resulting in no, minor, or major harm | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No harm† | p value | Minor harm† | p value | Major harm† | p value | |
| I feel an obligation to tell the facts necessary to understand what happened | ||||||
| % agreeing | 72 | <0.001 | 98 | <0.001 | 94 | <0.001 |
| % disagreeing | 28 | 78 | 67 | |||
| I feel an obligation to make it clear that what happened was a mistake | ||||||
| % agreeing | 76 | <0.001 | 98 | <0.001 | 95 | <0.001 |
| % disagreeing | 41 | 88 | 79 | |||
| Disclosure is right even if it comes at a significant personal cost | ||||||
| % agreeing | 73 | <0.001 | 98 | <0.001 | 95 | <0.001 |
| % disagreeing | 42 | 87 | 71 | |||
| Disclosure is important because that is how I would want to be treated | ||||||
| % agreeing | 74 | <0.001 | 98 | <0.001 | 94 | <0.001 |
| % disagreeing | 33 | 82 | 82 | |||
| Disclosure would help alleviate my feelings of guilt | ||||||
| % agreeing | 70 | 0.90 | 98 | 0.15 | 93 | 0.88 |
| % disagreeing | 69 | 95 | 92 | |||
| Disclosure strengthens my patient’s trust in me | ||||||
| % agreeing | 75 | 0.009 | 98 | 0.09 | 95 | 0.008 |
| % disagreeing | 61 | 94 | 87 | |||
| My decision to be disclose depends on whether I think the information will help or harm the patient | ||||||
| % agreeing | 52 | <0.001 | 96 | 0.6 | 86 | 0.001 |
| % disagreeing | 80 | 97 | 96 | |||
| When I make a medical mistake, I am own worst critic | ||||||
| % agreeing | 68 | 0.31 | 96 | 0.98 | 92 | 0.43 |
| % disagreeing | 78 | 96 | 96 | |||
| Forgiveness is an important part of my spiritual or religious belief system | ||||||
| % agreeing | 70 | 0.54 | 98 | 0.01 | 93 | 0.55 |
| % disagreeing | 66 | 91 | 91 | |||
| Gender | ||||||
| Male | 70 | 0.93 | 97 | 0.59 | 91 | 0.34 |
| Female | 69 | 96 | 94 | |||
| Training level | ||||||
| Faculty | 80 | <0.001 | 99 | 0.08 | 97 | 0.009 |
| Residents | 63 | 95 | 90 | |||
| Specialty | ||||||
| Pediatrics | 80 | 0.01 | 98 | 0.36 | 97 | 0.04 |
| Family medicine | 73 | 97 | 88 | |||
| Internal medicine | 63 | 95 | 90 | |||
| Have provided medical testimony in a legal deposition that was not related to a malpractice case | ||||||
| Yes | 82 | 0.04 | 96 | 0.50 | 98 | 0.11 |
| No | 68 | 98 | 92 | |||
| Have provided medical testimony in a legal deposition that was related to a malpractice case | ||||||
| Yes | 82 | 0.01 | 97 | 0.60 | 95 | 0.39 |
| No | 67 | 96 | 92 | |||
| Have been named as a defendant in a malpractice case | ||||||
| Yes | 77 | 0.34 | 100 | 0.30 | 100 | 0.10 |
| No | 69 | 96 | 92 | |||