Rural Community Members’ Perceptions of Harm from Medical Mistakes: A High Plains Research Network (HPRN) Study

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Figure 1.
Response sample and analysis performed on each subset. †Applied Strategies for Improving Patient Safety²¹.

Table 1.

Characteristics of Reported Perceived Medical Mistakes (n = 180)

Characteristic	No. (%)
Gender of person involved
Female	106 (59)
Male	69 (38)
Missing	5 (3)
Relationship to reporter of person involved
Self	88 (49)
Family member	81 (45)
Missing	11 (6)
Age of person at time of event
Less than 18 years old	10 (6)
18 to 39 years old	33 (18)
40 to 54 years old	32 (18)
55 to 69 years old	52 (29)
70 years or older	38 (21)
Missing	15 (8)
Reporters’ perception of whether harm occurred
Yes	155 (86)
No	19 (11)
Missing	6 (3)

Table 2.

Description of Who Was Involved and Where Perceived Mistake Occurred (n = 180)*

Characteristic	No. (%)
Who was consulted about event
Family member/friend	137 (76)
Doctor/clinician	109 (61)
Nurse	46 (26)
Hospital management	40 (22)
Patient representative	29 (16)
Pharmacist	14 (8)
Radiologist	13 (7)
No one	12 (7)
Other	46 (26)
Who was involved in the event
Doctor/clinician	144 (80)
Nurse	71 (39)
Hospital staff	59 (33)
Specialist	38 (21)
Radiology	27 (15)
Laboratory	22 (12)
Office staff	20 (11)
Pharmacy	11 (6)
Other	18 (10)
Where the event occurred
Local hospital	79 (44)
Local doctor’s office	64 (36)
Urban/suburban doctor	24 (13)
Urban/suburban hospital	26 (14)
Pharmacy	6 (3)
Other	20 (11)

* Percentages total more than 100% because questionnaire options were not mutually exclusive.

Table 3.

Research Staff Coding of 54 Patient Reports of Medical Errors Using the ASIPS DMO Taxonomy*

Characteristic	No. (%)
Participants involved in mistake
Physicians	36 (62)
Nonphysician providers and nurses	23 (40)
Third party	23 (40)
Mistake settings
Hospitals	19 (33)
Ambulatory offices	12 (21)
Emergency departments	8 (14)
Outpatient diagnostic facilities	6 (10)
Pharmacies	6 (10)
Laboratories	2 (3)
Type of mistake
Clinical event	36 (62)
Communication errors	23 (40)
Medication errors	23 (40)
Cause of mistake
Clinical knowledge or skill	7 (12)
Errors in judgment	6 (10)
Distraction or inattention	6 (10)
System malfunction, system not present	3 (5)
Resource not available	2 (3)
Failure in information retrieval	1 (2)
Could not determine	35 (60)
Outcome interventions
No intervention needed	8 (14)
Repeated procedures	14 (24)
Medication modification	6 (10)
Could not determine	20 (35)
Types of outcomes from mistake
No change in health status of patient	24 (41)
Temporary impairment	9 (16)
Permanent impairment	4 (7)
Personal inconvenience	9 (16)
Discomfort	27 (47)
New diagnosis resulting from mistake	4 (7)
Death	4 (7)
Could not determine	1 (2)