Abstract
Background and objectives: Medical malpractice is a phenomenon that shadows current medical practice, the number of complaints following an upward trend worldwide. The background for complaints is related both to the doctor and medical practice in general, as well as to the patient. The aim of this study was to identify a profile of the Romanian doctors who are more prone to receiving complaints, by analyzing the socio-demographic, professional and institutional characteristics. Materials and Methods: We conducted a quantitative, prospective research, the data being collected using a newly developed questionnaire. Data analysis was performed with the IBM Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS, version 24). We used counts, percentages, means and standard deviation, and comparative and correlational analyses. A logistic regression model was applied to select a statistically best-fit model to identify independent predictors for receiving complaints; a Hosmer–Lemeshow test was used to check the performance of the prediction model. Results: The study group consisted of 1684 doctors, of which 16.1% had been involved in a malpractice complaint. Results showed that men, senior doctors from surgical specialties who perform a greater number of on-call shifts, those who work in regional or county hospitals, those who have greater fear of receiving complaints and those whose life partner is a doctor with the same specialty are more prone to receiving complaints. Conclusions: The profile identified by the present research underlines the main characteristics that could be targeted with specific measures in order to prevent the ongoing increase of malpractice complaints in Romania.
Highlights
The need to respect the norms of good practice in medicine has accompanied the medical profession throughout its evolution, but the perspective on failure in the medical act has undergone important changes over time
Significant differences were recorded in terms of partner profession (z = −3.615, p < 0.001) meaning that subjects whose partner was a doctor of the same specialty had received complaints of malpractice more often (Mean rank = 532.10) than subjects whose partner had another profession that was not related to the medical system (Mean rank = 466.88)
The explanation by the doctors of the results of the interventions and of the performed procedures is positively correlated with the existence of malpractice complaints (p < 0.001, r = 0.101), which means that the incomplete explanation or lack of explanation of these results can increase the probability of a malpractice complaint being filed
Summary
The need to respect the norms of good practice in medicine has accompanied the medical profession throughout its evolution, but the perspective on failure in the medical act has undergone important changes over time. The large number of complaints about medical professional liability all over the world is a reality that cannot be disputed, and the numerous consequences they generate sound the alarm about the need to identify prevention and reduction strategies. An analysis of the annual distribution of malpractice complaints filed in Romanian courts between November 2007 and April 2018 shows an increase in the number of complaints from 8 in 2008 to 65 in 2017, with 331 complaints filed during the entire study period [6]. The aim of this study was to identify a profile of the Romanian doctors who are more prone to receiving complaints, by analyzing the socio-demographic, professional and institutional characteristics.
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