Vocational and psychosocial predictors of medical negligence claims among Australian doctors: a prospective cohort analysis of the MABEL survey
Objective To understand the association between medical negligence claims and doctors’ sex, age, specialty, working hours, work location, personality, social supports, family circumstances, self-rated health, self-rated life satisfaction and presence of recent injury or illness.Design and setting Pr...
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BMJ Publishing Group
2022-06-01
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| Series: | BMJ Open |
| Online Access: | https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/12/6/e055432.full |
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| author | Anthony Scott Marie Bismark Owen M Bradfield Matthew Spittal |
| author_facet | Anthony Scott Marie Bismark Owen M Bradfield Matthew Spittal |
| author_sort | Anthony Scott |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Objective To understand the association between medical negligence claims and doctors’ sex, age, specialty, working hours, work location, personality, social supports, family circumstances, self-rated health, self-rated life satisfaction and presence of recent injury or illness.Design and setting Prospective cohort study of Australian doctors.Participants 12 134 doctors who completed the Medicine in Australia: Balancing Employment and Life survey between 2013 and 2019.Primary outcome measure Doctors named as a defendant in a medical negligence claim in the preceding 12 months.Results 649 (5.35%) doctors reported being named in a medical negligence claim during the study period. In addition to previously identified demographic factors (sex, age and specialty), we identified the following vocational and psychosocial risk factors for claims: working full time (OR=1.48, 95% CI 1.13 to 1.94) or overtime hours (OR 1.70, 95% CI 1.29 to 2.23), working in a regional centre (OR 1.69, 95% CI 1.37 to 2.08), increasing job demands (OR 1.16, 95% CI 1.04 to 1.30), low self-rated life satisfaction (OR 1.43, 95% CI 1.08 to 1.91) and recent serious personal injury or illness (OR 1.40, 95% CI 1.13 to 1.72). Having an agreeable personality was mildly protective (OR 0.91, 95% CI 0.83 to 1.00). When stratified according to sex, we found that working in a regional area, low self-rated life satisfaction and not achieving work–life balance predicted medical negligence claims in male, but not female, doctors. However, working more than part-time hours and having a recent personal injury or illness predicted medical negligence claims in female, but not male, doctors. Increasing age predicted claims more strongly in male doctors. Personality type predicted claims in both male and female doctors.Conclusions Modifiable risk factors contribute to an increased risk of medical negligence claims among doctors in Australia. Creating more supportive work environments and targeting interventions that improve doctors’ health and well-being could reduce the risk of medical negligence claims and contribute to improved patient safety. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-37dede6de85c4a92b60b653bbad34a12 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2044-6055 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2022-06-01 |
| publisher | BMJ Publishing Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMJ Open |
| spelling | doaj-art-37dede6de85c4a92b60b653bbad34a122025-01-28T07:25:12ZengBMJ Publishing GroupBMJ Open2044-60552022-06-0112610.1136/bmjopen-2021-055432Vocational and psychosocial predictors of medical negligence claims among Australian doctors: a prospective cohort analysis of the MABEL surveyAnthony Scott0Marie Bismark1Owen M Bradfield2Matthew Spittal3Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, University of Melbourne, Carlton, Victoria, AustraliaMelbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia1 Law and Public Health Unit, Centre for Health Policy, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, AustraliaCentre for Mental Health, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, AustraliaObjective To understand the association between medical negligence claims and doctors’ sex, age, specialty, working hours, work location, personality, social supports, family circumstances, self-rated health, self-rated life satisfaction and presence of recent injury or illness.Design and setting Prospective cohort study of Australian doctors.Participants 12 134 doctors who completed the Medicine in Australia: Balancing Employment and Life survey between 2013 and 2019.Primary outcome measure Doctors named as a defendant in a medical negligence claim in the preceding 12 months.Results 649 (5.35%) doctors reported being named in a medical negligence claim during the study period. In addition to previously identified demographic factors (sex, age and specialty), we identified the following vocational and psychosocial risk factors for claims: working full time (OR=1.48, 95% CI 1.13 to 1.94) or overtime hours (OR 1.70, 95% CI 1.29 to 2.23), working in a regional centre (OR 1.69, 95% CI 1.37 to 2.08), increasing job demands (OR 1.16, 95% CI 1.04 to 1.30), low self-rated life satisfaction (OR 1.43, 95% CI 1.08 to 1.91) and recent serious personal injury or illness (OR 1.40, 95% CI 1.13 to 1.72). Having an agreeable personality was mildly protective (OR 0.91, 95% CI 0.83 to 1.00). When stratified according to sex, we found that working in a regional area, low self-rated life satisfaction and not achieving work–life balance predicted medical negligence claims in male, but not female, doctors. However, working more than part-time hours and having a recent personal injury or illness predicted medical negligence claims in female, but not male, doctors. Increasing age predicted claims more strongly in male doctors. Personality type predicted claims in both male and female doctors.Conclusions Modifiable risk factors contribute to an increased risk of medical negligence claims among doctors in Australia. Creating more supportive work environments and targeting interventions that improve doctors’ health and well-being could reduce the risk of medical negligence claims and contribute to improved patient safety.https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/12/6/e055432.full |
| spellingShingle | Anthony Scott Marie Bismark Owen M Bradfield Matthew Spittal Vocational and psychosocial predictors of medical negligence claims among Australian doctors: a prospective cohort analysis of the MABEL survey BMJ Open |
| title | Vocational and psychosocial predictors of medical negligence claims among Australian doctors: a prospective cohort analysis of the MABEL survey |
| title_full | Vocational and psychosocial predictors of medical negligence claims among Australian doctors: a prospective cohort analysis of the MABEL survey |
| title_fullStr | Vocational and psychosocial predictors of medical negligence claims among Australian doctors: a prospective cohort analysis of the MABEL survey |
| title_full_unstemmed | Vocational and psychosocial predictors of medical negligence claims among Australian doctors: a prospective cohort analysis of the MABEL survey |
| title_short | Vocational and psychosocial predictors of medical negligence claims among Australian doctors: a prospective cohort analysis of the MABEL survey |
| title_sort | vocational and psychosocial predictors of medical negligence claims among australian doctors a prospective cohort analysis of the mabel survey |
| url | https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/12/6/e055432.full |
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