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. 2012;7(4):e35585.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0035585. Epub 2012 Apr 18.

Hope modified the association between distress and incidence of self-perceived medical errors among practicing physicians: prospective cohort study

Yasuaki Hayashino  1 , Makiko Utsugi-Ozaki, Mitchell D Feldman, Shunichi Fukuhara
Affiliations

Hope modified the association between distress and incidence of self-perceived medical errors among practicing physicians: prospective cohort study

Yasuaki Hayashino et al. PLoS One. 2012.

Abstract

The presence of hope has been found to influence an individual's ability to cope with stressful situations. The objective of this study is to evaluate the relationship between medical errors, hope and burnout among practicing physicians using validated metrics. Prospective cohort study was conducted among hospital based physicians practicing in Japan (N = 836). Measures included the validated Burnout Scale, self-assessment of medical errors and Herth Hope Index (HHI). The main outcome measure was the frequency of self-perceived medical errors, and Poisson regression analysis was used to evaluate the association between hope and medical error. A total of 361 errors were reported in 836 physician-years. We observed a significant association between hope and self-report of medical errors. Compared with the lowest tertile category of HHI, incidence rate ratios (IRRs) of self-perceived medical errors of physicians in the highest category were 0.44 (95%CI, 0.34 to 0.58) and 0.54 (95%CI, 0.42 to 0.70) respectively, for the 2(nd) and 3(rd) tertile. In stratified analysis by hope score, among physicians with a low hope score, those who experienced higher burnout reported higher incidence of errors; physicians with high hope scores did not report high incidences of errors, even if they experienced high burnout. Self-perceived medical errors showed a strong association with physicians' hope, and hope modified the association between physicians' burnout and self-perceived medical errors.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Association between burnout and medical errors: subgroup analysis by depressive symptoms evaluated by WHO-5 or Herth Hope Index score among practicing physicians, males and females, 2009.
WHO-5, World Health Organization-Five Well-being Index; HHI, Herth Hope Index; IRR, Incidence rate ratio adjusted for age and sex.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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