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Table 5 Medical Error (ME) to be Disclosed According to Preference and Perception of Current Practice per Demographic Characteristics

From: Which medical error to disclose to patients and by whom? Public preference and perceptions of norm and current practice

 

Statement*

Overall P valuea

Disclose near miss ME vs. other choicesb

Don't disclose ME

vs. other choicesb

 

Don't disclose ME

Disclose major harm ME

Disclose moderate harm ME

Disclose

minor harm ME

Disclose

near miss

ME

 

P

OR

(95% CI)

P

OR

(95 %CI)

Personal Preference

          

Males [425]

32 (8)

74 (17)

87 (21)

121(29)

111(26)

< 0.001

< 0.001

0.45

< 0.001

4.23

Females** [477]

9 (2)

119 (25)

56 (12)

84 (18)

209 (44)

  

(0.34-0.60)

 

(2.00-8.98)

Saudis [810]

38 (5)

182 (23)

129 (16)

176 (22)

285 (35)

0.06

0.59

0.88

0.54

1.46

Non-Saudi Arabs** [92]

3 (3)

11 (12)

14 (15)

29 (32)

35 (38)

  

(0.57-1.4)

 

(0.44-4.83)

Patients [333]

8 (2)

80 (24)

57 (17)

84 (25)

104 (31)

0.25

0.04

0.74

0.02

0.40

Healthy** [569]

33 (6)

113 (20)

86 (15)

121 (21)

216 (38)

  

(0.56-0.99)

 

(0.18-0.88)

≥College, 551

21 (4)

114 (21)

101 (18)

128 (23)

187 (34)

0.02

0.003

0.40

0.58

1.78

        

(0.21-0.73)

 

(0.23-13.51)

School [304]

19 (6)

70 (23)

42 (14)

67 (22)

106 (35)

 

0.006

0.41

0.29

3.00

        

(0.22-0.77)

 

(0.39-22.73)

Illiterate** [46]

1 (2)

9 (20)

0 (0)

10 (22)

26 (57)

     

Perception of Current Practice

       

Males [420]

37 (9)

104 (25)

119 (28)

87 (21)

73 (17)

< 0.001

0.93

1.02

< 0.001

0.38

Females** [426]

87 (20)

146 (34)

66 (16)

54 (13)

73 (17)

  

(0.71-1.45)

 

(0.25-0.57)

Saudis [758]

116 (15)

230 (30)

161 (21)

125 (17)

126 (17)

0.02

0.15

0.68

0.12

1.81

Non-Saudi Arabs** [88]

8 (9)

20 (23)

24 (27)

16 (18)

20 (23)

  

(0.40-1.16)

 

(0.85-3.84)

Patients [304]

41 (14)

88 (29)

60 (20)

59 (19)

56 (18)

0.20

0.50

1.13

0.47

0.86

Healthy** [542]

83 (15)

162 (30)

125 (23)

82 (15)

90 (17)

  

(0.79-1.64)

 

(0.58-1.29)

≥College [524]

66(13)

167 (32)

136 (26)

73 (14)

82 (16)

0.004

0.83

1.11

0.01

0.31

        

(0.42-2.95)

 

(0.17-0.78)

School [286]

48 (17)

66 (23)

49 (17)

64 (22)

59 (21)

 

0.38

1.56

0.09

0.50

        

(0.58-4.20)

 

(0.23-1.12)

Illiterate** [35]

10 (29)

16 (46)

0 (0)

4 (11)

5 (14)

     
  1. *"Don't disclose", and disclose when there is a "major harm", "moderate harm", "minor harm", or "near miss" correspond, respectively, to statements 1 to 5 in Table 1(a). Data indicate the number (%) of respondents who chose the corresponding statement. Numbers between [·] represent the number of responses from participants with the indicated characteristic. aMann-Whitney test or Kruskal-Wallis test (for educational status). bMantel-Haenszel common odds ratio estimate.
  2. ** Reference group in the Mantel-Haenszel estimate. Percentages may not add up to 100 due to rounding.
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BMC Medical Ethics

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