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KMID : 0387320060160030070
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Korean Journal of Health Policy and Administration
2006 Volume.16 No. 3 p.70 ~ p.85
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Reducing Medical Errors : Patients’ Self Protect Behaviors and Involvement in Decision Making
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An Kyung-Eh
Kim Jeong-Eun
Kang Min-Ah
Jung Yoen-Yi
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Abstract
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The purposes of this study were (1) to describe patients’’ behaviors to protect themselves from medical errors and their involvement in decision making on the diagnostic and treatment procedures (2) to examine whether patients’’ characteristics, such as age, sex, education, experience of hospitalization and/or surgery influence their self protect behaviors and involvement in decision making on the diagnostic and treatment procedures. A survey was conducted with 99 patients visited one university hospital in Seoul, Korea. A 20-item questionnaire, a 4-point Likert scale, was used to measure the degree of patients’’ active involvement in decision making; patients’’ self protect behaviors regarding medication, hospitalization, and surgery; and communication (Cronbach’’s alpha=0.801). SPSS 12.0 was used for the descriptive and correlation analysis. Only 6.1% of the participants were involved in the decision making process for the diagnostic tests and treatment. More patients did self-protect behaviors associated with the medication than other areas but widely varied from 18.2 to 94.3 % among various items. More people with age of 60 or older compared to people in younger age groups reported more protect behaviors particularly associated with medication. Patient education is needed to improve their active role in preventing medical errors and to promote patients’’ safety.
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KEYWORD
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Medical errors, Safety, Protect, Decision making, Patient participation
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