according to a study published in JAMA Network Open.
The cross-sectional study was conducted by researchers from Soroka University Medical Center, Israel; the University of Massachusetts, Worcester; Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center; Harvard Medical School, Boston; and the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
Online survey responses were collected from 1,222 emergency department attending physicians and advanced practice clinicians (APCs) in acute care hospitals throughout Massachusetts from January to September 2020.
Participants were asked to rank their level of agreement – from “strongly disagree” to “strongly agree” – with two statements: “In my day-to-day practice, I am fearful of making a mistake which results in [1] harm to the patient” (fear of harm) and [2] “being sued” (fear of suit).
The average age of the participants was about 44 years; 54.2% were men, 45.1% were women, and 0.7% were of other gender. Approximately 70% of responses were from MDs or DOs, and the remainder were from nurse practitioners and physician assistants. Participants had between 5 and 19 years of experience (median, 10 years).
The study found that the mean score was greater with regard to fear of harm than to fear of suit, regardless of clinician type, experience, or sex and whether the survey was completed before or after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. There was no significant difference in mean scores regarding fear of suit before the pandemic and after it.
“Our data show a significantly greater fear of harming a patient than a fear of a malpractice suit,” Linda Isbell, PhD, professor of psychology at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, who is one of the study’s authors, told this news organization. “There is a genuine concern and fear of harming patients and a desire to provide the best care for the patient’s well-being.”
In general, fear-of-harm and fear-of-suit scores decreased as providers gained experience. Those with less than 5 years of experience reported the highest levels of both.
“Although our data do not specifically provide reasons why age may impact [fear] levels, it is possible that with more practice experience ... providers have a better sense of the likelihood of patient harm and malpractice and how to manage such outcomes should they happen,” says Dr. Isbell. She noted that a longitudinal study is necessary to confirm this hypothesis.
One exception was female APCs, whose fear-of-harm scores remained relatively steady across all experience levels. Among male APCs, fear of causing patient harm decreased among those with 5-14 years of experience but increased slightly at 14-44 years of experience.
While previous research typically focused on fear of malpractice as a significant driver of defensive medicine, such as testing excessively, this study examined providers’ fear of harming patients because of a medical error.
The findings suggest “that fear of harm should be considered with, and may be more consequential than, fear of suit in medical decision-making,” the authors note.
“[F]ear can motivate people to engage in more careful and thorough information processing, which can drive behaviors in systematic ways,” says Dr. Isbell. “It is possible that one’s fear of harming a patient is triggering a high level of vigilance, reflected in the practice of defensive medicine across different types of patients – some of whom may be better off with less testing and referrals.”
Rade B. Vukmir, MD, JD, FACEP, an emergency medicine physician and spokesman for the American College of Emergency Physicians, says defensive medicine is common in the specialty and that it occurs 20%-40% of the time.
“Early in practice, the proverbial worst sin is missing a diagnosis, so that’s where the overtesting mentality comes from,” he says. In addition, “there are cities where you can’t drive a mile without seeing a half dozen legal advertisements. That imposes a cost burden on the system, [adding] roughly 20% to the cost of overall care.”
Emergency medicine providers attempt to minimize testing, but between their role as “America’s safety net” and the difficult circumstances they often face when treating patients, it takes a while to strike a balance, Dr. Vukmir acknowledges.
“There’s a training correlation, which showed up [in this study]; as people got further advanced in training, they felt more comfortable and felt the need to do it less,” says Dr. Vukmir.
The study was funded by a grant from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Dr. Isbell reports no conflicts of interest. Dr. Vukmir has disclosed no relevant financial relationships.
A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.