Prevalence of non-reporting of hospital medical errors in the Islamic Republic of Iran

BACKGROUND: Medical errors frequently occur in health care facilities, jeopardizing patient safety and increasing associated costs. AIMS: This cross-sectional investigation examined the rates of and reasons for non-reporting of medical errors at Nemazee Hospital, Shiraz, Islamic Republic of Iran. METHODS: Self-administered questionnaires were completed by 283 staff members, including physicians, nurses and medical students. One-way analysis of variance, Fisher's least significant difference post hoc, Spearman correlation coefficient and intraclass correlation tests were used for statistical analyses. RESULTS: Almost all (95.8%) participants had observed at least 1 medical error during the previous year, with over half (50.5%) observing 3-10 errors. The preferred method for reporting medical errors among physicians and medical students was verbal and informal (40.3% and 41.8% respectively), while nurses preferred written forms (45.7%). The results indicated significant differences between groups concerning individual and organizational barriers in general, and among all sub-categories (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Concerns of legal entanglements and confidentiality issues were recognized as the main barriers to reporting medical errors.