Patients’ safety perception among undergraduate medical students

Abstract

Background and Aims: Patient safety is a fundamental principle of health care. Lack of concern towards patients’ safety can lead to various medical errors and increase the time of hospitalization. The aim of this study was to assess the patient’s safety perception among undergraduate medical students. Methods: A Cross sectional self-administered questionnaire survey was conducted among random 48 students (male and female) in College of Medicine, Majmaah University in February to May 2020. Self-reported questionnaire was used for data collection. Data will be collected using a questionnaire ‘APSQIII’ on 7-point Likert scale. Results: This study was conducted in College of Medicine, Majmaah University from the month of February to May 2020, among 48 participants there were 36 (75%) male and 12 (25%) female. Among total participants maximum were 20 (41.7%) in 4th level followed by 5th level 15 (31.3%), 6th level 11 (22.9%), and 3rd level 2 (4.2%). On comparison of attitude and knowledge scores between participants of different levels of study, if was found that the higher grades (5th & 6th) had better knowledge scores compared to early phases of medical college (3rd & 4th) and was found to be statistically significant with p value (0.028). Conclusions: According to the findings, medical students’ opinions of patient safety can be used as a tool and training guide in medical school. Institutions should pay more attention to concerns like medical error causation and reporting. Shift doctors/nurses must be based on safety measures and also working hours. This survey found that knowing about patient safety issues before qualifying will help all respondents become more effective doctors.