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Study: Male surgeons report higher rate of mistakes

Quality Improvement Monitor, February 3, 2005

Male surgeons report the highest rate of mistakes in patient care, according a study of physicians' attitudes toward adverse events in the February 1 Quality and Safety in Health Care.

The findings are based on a survey carried out by the Research Institute of the Norwegian Medical Association, to which over 90% of practicing physicians in Norway belong.

Nearly seven out of 10  respondents said that a patient had never come to serious harm under their care. But 354 (27%) answered "a few times," and 14 (1%) answered "several times."

Male surgeons were significantly more likely to make mistakes than other physicians, although the authors point out that it may be easier to measure errors in surgery. And physicians don't always recognize adverse events, so the figures in other disciplines may actually be higher, the authors said.

More 1,600 physicians were surveyed on various political and social aspects of medical practice. They were specifically asked if they had ever made any mistakes while caring for a patient and how difficult they found it to hand out criticism to colleagues.

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