30 Nov Association Between Physician Depression and Medical Errors

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Dr. Pereira-Lima

Karina Pereira-Lima, PhD
Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor
Department of Psychiatry, Federal University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?

Response: Questions regarding the magnitude and direction of the associations between physician depressive symptoms and medical errors remain open in recent literature.

By pooling data from 11 studies involving 21,517 physicians, we were able to verify that depressive symptoms among physicians were associated with increased risk of reporting medical errors (RR, 1.95; 95% CI, 1.63 – 2.33).

MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings?

Response: Examination of longitudinal studies demonstrated that the association between physician depressive symptoms and medical errors was bidirectional.

MedicalResearch.com: What should readers take away from your report?

Response: The association of physicians’ depressive symptoms with perceived medical errors strongly suggests that physician well-being is critical to patient care. Given that depressive symptoms are highly prevalent among physicians, these data underscore the need for systematic efforts to prevent or reduce depressive symptoms among these professionals.

MedicalResearch.com: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this work?

Response: Future studies should investigate the degree to which interventions for reducing physician depressive symptoms could mitigate medical errors and improve patient care. Future research is also needed to evaluate the associations of physician depressive symptoms with objective measures of medical errors. 

Citation:

Pereira-Lima K, Mata DA, Loureiro SR, Crippa JA, Bolsoni LM, Sen S. Association Between Physician Depressive Symptoms and Medical Errors: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. JAMA Netw Open. 2019;2(11):e1916097. doi:https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2019.16097 

[subscribe]

Last Modified: [last-modified]

The information on MedicalResearch.com is provided for educational purposes only, and is in no way intended to diagnose, cure, or treat any medical or other condition. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health and ask your doctor any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. In addition to all other limitations and disclaimers in this agreement, service provider and its third party providers disclaim any liability or loss in connection with the content provided on this website.

Last Updated on November 30, 2019 by Marie Benz MD FAAD