Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2013 Oct 29:14:42.
doi: 10.1186/1472-6939-14-42.

The practice of defensive medicine among hospital doctors in the United Kingdom

Osman Ortashi  1 , Jaspal Virdee, Rudaina Hassan, Tomasz Mutrynowski, Fikri Abu-Zidan
Affiliations

The practice of defensive medicine among hospital doctors in the United Kingdom

Osman Ortashi et al. BMC Med Ethics. .

Abstract

Background: Defensive medicine is defined as a doctor's deviation from standard practice to reduce or prevent complaints or criticism. The objectives of this study were to assess the prevalence of the practice of defensive medicine in the UK among hospital doctors and the factors affecting it.

Methods: A quantitative study was designed, with a detailed seventeen point questionnaire. Defensive medicine practice was assessed and tested against four factors age, gender, specialty and grade. Three hundred hospital doctors from three UK hospitals received the questionnaire.

Results: Two hundred and four (68%) out of 300 hospital doctors responded to the survey. Seventy eight percent reported practicing one form or another of defensive medicine. Ordering unnecessary tests is the commonest form of defensive medicine reported by 59% of the respondents. This is followed by unnecessary referral to other specialties (55%). While only 9% of the sampled doctors would refuse to treat high risk patients, double this number would avoid high risks procedures all together (21%). A linear regression module has shown that only senior grade was associated with less practice of defensive medicine.

Conclusion: Defensive medical practice is common among the doctors who responded to the survey. Senior grade is associated with less practice of defensive medicine.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Thorpe KE. The medical malpractice 'crisis’: recent trends and the impact of state tort reforms. Health Aff (Millwood); 2004. Suppl Web Exclusives: W4-20-30. - PubMed
    1. Nguyen Thi PL, Briançon S, Empereur F, Guillemin F. Factors determining inpatient satisfaction with care. Soc Sci Med. 2002;54(4):493–504. doi: 10.1016/S0277-9536(01)00045-4. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Sethi MK, Obremskey WT, Natividad H, Mir HR, Jahangir AA. Incidence and costs of defensive medicine among orthopedic surgeons in the United States: a national survey study. Am J Orthop (Belle Mead NJ) 2012;41(2):69–73. - PubMed
    1. Brilla R, Evers S, Deutschlander A. et al. Are neurology residents in the United States being taught defensive medicine. Clin Neurol Neurosurg. 2006;108(4):374–377. doi: 10.1016/j.clineuro.2005.05.013. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Chen XY. Defensive medicine or economically motivated corruption? A Confucian reflection on physician care in China today. J Med Philos. 2007;32(6):635–648. doi: 10.1080/03605310701681021. - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources