title: Obligation towards medical errors disclosure at a tertiary care hospital in Dubai, UAE.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The study aimed to identify healthcare providers' obligation towards medical errors disclosure as well as to study the association between the severity of the medical error and the intention to disclose the error to the patients and their families.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional study design was followed to identify the magnitude of disclosure among healthcare providers in different departments at a randomly selected tertiary care hospital in Dubai.
  
  
  METHODS
  The total sample size accounted for 106 respondents. Data were collected using a questionnaire composed of two sections namely; demographic variables of the respondents and a section which included variables relevant to medical error disclosure.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Statistical analysis yielded significant association between the obligation to disclose medical errors with male healthcare providers (X2 = 5.1), and being a physician (X2 = 19.3). Obligation towards medical errors disclosure was significantly associated with those healthcare providers who had not committed any medical errors during the past year (X2 = 9.8), and any type of medical error regardless the cause, extent of harm (X2 = 8.7). Variables included in the binary logistic regression model were; status (Exp β (Physician) = 0.39, 95% CI 0.16-0.97), gender (Exp β (Male) = 4.81, 95% CI 1.84-12.54), and medical errors during the last year (Exp β (None) = 2.11, 95% CI 0.6-2.3).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Education and training of physicians about disclosure conversations needs to start as early as medical school. Like the training in other competencies required of physicians, education in communicating about medical errors could help reduce physicians' apprehension and make them more comfortable with disclosure conversations.
authors: Health Policy, Planning and Administration, Department of Public Health Administration and Behavioural Sciences, High Institute of Public Health, University of Alexandria, Alexandria, Egypt.|Chair of Health Services Administration Department, College of Health Science, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.
authors: Ashraf Ahmad
authors: AA
authors: Zaghloul
authors: Health Services Administration, College of Health Sciences, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.|School of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia, BC, Canada.
authors: Syed Azizur
authors: SA
authors: Rahman
authors: Health Policy, Planning and Administration, High Institute of Public Health, University of Alexandria, Alexandria, Egypt.
authors: Nagwa Younes
authors: NY
authors: Abou El-Enein
mesh_terms: D004501:Education, Medical / Q000592:standards; D004992:Ethics, Medical / Q000193:education; D006801:Humans; D019300:Medical Errors / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000941:ethics / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D020380:Needs Assessment; D061214:Patient Safety / Q000592:standards; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations / Q000941:ethics; D010820:Physicians / Q000941:ethics / Q000523:psychology / Q000592:standards; D012941:Social Responsibility; D014342:Truth Disclosure / Q000941:ethics; D014479:United Arab Emirates
keywords: Obligation; disclosure; medical error