title: Barriers to Medical Error Reporting.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  This study was conducted to explore the prevalence of medical error underreporting and associated barriers.
  
  
  METHODS
  This cross-sectional study was performed from September to December 2012. Five hospitals, affiliated with Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, in Hamedan, Iran were investigated. A self-administered questionnaire was used for data collection. Participants consisted of physicians, nurses, midwives, residents, interns, and staffs of radiology and laboratory departments.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Overall, 50.26% of subjects had committed but not reported medical errors. The main reasons mentioned for underreporting were lack of effective medical error reporting system (60.0%), lack of proper reporting form (51.8%), lack of peer supporting a person who has committed an error (56.0%), and lack of personal attention to the importance of medical errors (62.9%). The rate of committing medical errors was higher in men (71.4%), age of 50-40 years (67.6%), less-experienced personnel (58.7%), educational level of MSc (87.5%), and staff of radiology department (88.9%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study outlined the main barriers to reporting medical errors and associated factors that may be helpful for healthcare organizations in improving medical error reporting as an essential component for patient safety enhancement.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Modeling of Noncommunicable Diseases Research Center, School of Public Health, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran.
authors.forename: Jalal
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Poorolajal
authors.affiliation: Clinical Governance Center, Vice-chancellery for Treatment, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran.
authors.forename: Shirin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rezaie
authors.affiliation: Clinical Governance Center, Vice-chancellery for Treatment, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran.
authors.forename: Negar
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Aghighi
keywords: Iran; medical error; patient safety; reporting system