Dataset Information

Medical negligence claims and the health and life satisfaction of Australian doctors: a prospective cohort analysis of the MABEL survey.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

To assess the association between medical negligence claims and doctors' self-rated health and life satisfaction.

Design

Prospective cohort study.

Participants

Registered doctors practising in Australia who participated in waves 4 to 11 of the Medicine in Australia: Balancing Employment and Life (MABEL) longitudinal survey between 2011 and 2018.

Primary and secondary outcome measures

Self-rated health and self-rated life satisfaction.

Results

Of the 15 105 doctors in the study, 885 reported being named in a medical negligence claim. Fixed-effects linear regression analysis showed that both self-rated health and self-rated life satisfaction declined for all doctors over the course of the MABEL survey, with no association between wave and being sued. However, being sued was not associated with any additional declines in self-rated health (coef.=-0.02, 95% CI -0.06 to 0.02, p=0.39) or self-rated life satisfaction (coef.=-0.01, 95% CI -0.08 to 0.07, p=0.91) after controlling for a range of job factors. Instead, we found that working conditions and job satisfaction were the strongest predictors of self-rated health and self-rated life satisfaction in sued doctors. In analyses restricted to doctors who were sued, we observed no changes in self-rated health (p=0.99) or self-rated life satisfaction (p=0.59) in the years immediately following a claim.

Conclusions

In contrast to prior overseas cross-sectional survey studies, we show that medical negligence claims do not adversely affect the well-being of doctors in Australia when adjusting for time trends and previously established covariates. This may be because: (1) prior studies failed to adequately address issues of causation and confounding; or (2) legal processes governing medical negligence claims in Australia cause less distress compared with those in other jurisdictions. Our findings suggest that the interaction between medical negligence claims and poor doctors' health is more complex than revealed through previous studies.

SUBMITTER: Bradfield OM

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9121477 | biostudies-literature | 2022 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Medical negligence claims and the health and life satisfaction of Australian doctors: a prospective cohort analysis of the MABEL survey.

Bradfield Owen M OM Bismark Marie M Scott Anthony A Spittal Matthew M

BMJ open 20220519 5

<h4>Objective</h4>To assess the association between medical negligence claims and doctors' self-rated health and life satisfaction.<h4>Design</h4>Prospective cohort study.<h4>Participants</h4>Registered doctors practising in Australia who participated in waves 4 to 11 of the Medicine in Australia: Balancing Employment and Life (MABEL) longitudinal survey between 2011 and 2018.<h4>Primary and secondary outcome measures</h4>Self-rated health and self-rated life satisfaction.<h4>Results</h4>Of the ...[more]

PMID: 35589347

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Dataset Information

Medical negligence claims and the health and life satisfaction of Australian doctors: a prospective cohort analysis of the MABEL survey.

Objective

Design

Participants

Primary and secondary outcome measures

Results

Conclusions

Publications

Medical negligence claims and the health and life satisfaction of Australian doctors: a prospective cohort analysis of the MABEL survey.

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