Attitudes Toward Patient Safety among Medical Students in Malaysia

Sathia Prakash Nadarajan, Sumitra Ropini Karuthan, Jeevitha Rajasingam and Karuthan Chinna
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Sathia Prakash Nadarajan: Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia
Sumitra Ropini Karuthan: Ministry of Health Malaysia, Seremban 70300, Malaysia
Jeevitha Rajasingam: Medical Education Research and Development Unit, Faculty of Medicine, University Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia
Karuthan Chinna: School of Medicine, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, Taylors’s University, Subang Jaya 47500, Malaysia

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 21, 1-9

Abstract: The biggest challenge in moving toward a safer healthcare system is patient safety culture—that is, the prevention of harm to patients. Safe medical practices can prevent doing harm to the patients. For this, healthcare professionals must have good attitudes toward patient safety. Medical education plays an important role in promoting patient safety and patient safety attitudes. A study was conducted among medical students in Malaysia to assess their perceptions toward patient safety, using the 26-items Attitudes Toward Patient Safety Questionnaire (APSQ-III). In the analysis, the average percentage of positive responses (APPR) were computed for each domain, and APPR values of ≥75 were used as an indicator of positive perception. Out of the nine domains of APSQ, the students’ attitude was positive in six—Safety Training (85.2%), Error Reporting (76.3%), Working Hours (89.5%), Error Inevitability (86.1%), Team Functioning (94.6%), and Patient Involvement (80.1%). The desired level of positive attitude was not met in Disclosure Responsibility (68.5%), Professional Incompetence (70.0%), and Safety Curriculum (71.1%). APRR for disclosure responsibility was high among the first-year students, but, generally, the effect wore off over the years of study. The results support the need to enhance perception on Disclosure Responsibility, Professional Incompetence, and Safety Curriculum among the medical students in Malaysia.

Keywords: patient safety; medical students; attitudes (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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