Previous perceived medical error experiences, anxiety and hopelessness among patients presenting to an emergency department: a cross-sectional study

This study aimed to describe previous perceived medical error experiences among patients presenting to an emergency department and to examine whether state anxiety, trait anxiety, and hopelessness differed between patients who did and did not report such experiences. This cross-sectional study was conducted with 986 patients presenting to the emergency department of a public hospital. Data were collected using a Patient Information Form, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, and the Beck Hopelessness Scale. Among the participants, 52 (5.3%) reported having experienced what they perceived to be a medical error during a previous healthcare encounter. Among these 52 participants, 38.5% reported that the perceived event occurred in a public hospital, 19.2% reported an emergency department setting, and 21.1% identified misdiagnosis as the perceived error type. Physicians and nurses were identified by participants as responsible for 51.9% and 42.3% of these events, respectively. Among participants reporting a previous perceived medical error experience, 71.1% reported harm attributed to the event, and 59.5% of those reporting harm indicated prolonged treatment duration. No statistically significant differences were observed between participants with and without previous perceived medical error experiences in state anxiety (unadjusted p = 0.072; Holm-adjusted p = 0.177), trait anxiety (unadjusted p = 0.059; Holm-adjusted p = 0.177), or total hopelessness (unadjusted and Holm-adjusted p = 0.690). Previous perceived medical error experience was not significantly associated with state anxiety ( p = 0.270), trait anxiety ( p = 0.099), or total hopelessness ( p = 0.998) in the multivariable analyses. State anxiety was not significantly correlated with total hopelessness ( r = -0.017; Holm-adjusted p = 1.000), whereas trait anxiety showed a statistically significant but very weak positive correlation with total hopelessness ( r = 0.108; Holm-adjusted p = 0.008). Previous self-reported perceived medical error experiences were not significantly associated with current state anxiety, trait anxiety, or hopelessness in this emergency department sample. A very weak positive correlation was observed between trait anxiety and hopelessness.