Physicians' knowledge and practice towards medical error reporting: a cross-sectional hospital-based study in Saudi Arabia

Identifying reasons for under-reporting is crucial in reducing the incidence of medical errors. We studied physicians' knowledge of the occurrence, frequency and causes of medical errors and their actual practice toward reporting them. A cross-sectional, self-administered questionnaire was answered by 107 physicians at a tertiary-care hospital in Saudi Arabia. The questionnaire had 6 sections covering demographic data, knowledge, attitudes and practice towards reporting medical errors, perceived causes of and frequency of medical errors in their hospital and personal experiences of medical error reporting. Physicians tended not to report medical errors when no harm had occurred to patients. One-third of respondents feared punitive actions if they reported errors and only 56.4% felt that error reporting had led to positive changes in overall care. A majority of errors were related to late interventions and misdiagnosis. Under-reporting of medical errors was common in this hospital. Physicians did not appreciate attempts to improve the system of error reporting and a culture of blame still prevailed.