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Original Research
Article first published online: 3 AUG 2009
DOI: 10.1002/jhm.508
Copyright © 2009 Society of Hospital Medicine
Additional Information
How to Cite
Tarini, B. A., Lozano, P. and Christakis, D. A. (2009), Afraid in the hospital: Parental concern for errors during a child's hospitalization. Journal of Hospital Medicine, 4: 521–527. doi: 10.1002/jhm.508
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This study was funded by a grant from the Quality Improvement Committee at Children's Hospital & Regional Medical Center, Seattle, WA. The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the views of the University of Michigan, the University of Washington or Seattle Children's Hospital & Regional Medical Center. Dr. Tarini had full access to all the data in the study and takes responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis.
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This work was presented at the Pediatric Academic Society Meeting, May, 2007.
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There are no conflicts of interest for any authors. The study sponsor did not have any role in: (1) study design; (2) the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; (3) the writing of the report; or (4) the decision to submit the manuscript for publication. Dr. Tarini wrote the first draft of the manuscript. No author received an honorarium to produce the manuscript. This research was conducted while Dr. Tarini was a Clinical Scholar in the Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program at the University of Washington. Support for this research project was provided by the Quality Improvement Committee at Children's Hospital & Regional Medical Center in Seattle and the Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program.
Publication History
- Issue published online: 9 DEC 2009
- Article first published online: 3 AUG 2009
- Manuscript Accepted: 21 JAN 2009
- Manuscript Revised: 7 JAN 2009
- Manuscript Received: 4 AUG 2008
Keywords:
- medical errors;
- self-efficiency;
- pediatric hospitalization;
- language
Abstract
OBJECTIVE:
(1) To determine the proportion of parents concerned about medical errors during a child's hospitalization; and (2) the association between this concern and parental self-efficacy with physician interactions.
STUDY DESIGN:
Cross-sectional survey.
SETTING:
Tertiary care children's hospital.
PARTICIPANTS:
Parents of children admitted to the general medical service.
OUTCOME MEASURE:
Parental concern about medical errors.
METHODS:
Parents were asked their agreement with the statement “When my child is in the hospital I feel that I have to watch over the care that he/she is receiving to make sure that mistakes aren't made.” We used multivariate logistic regression to examine the association between parents' self-efficacy with physician interactions and the need “to watch over a child's care,” adjusting for parent and child demographics, English proficiency, past hospitalization, and social desirability bias.
RESULTS:
Of 278 eligible parents, 130 completed surveys and 63% reported the need to watch over their child's care to ensure that mistakes were not made. Parents with greater self-efficacy with physician interactions were less likely to report this need (odds ratio [OR], 0.83; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.72-0.92). All parents who were “very uncomfortable” communicating with doctors in English reported the need to watch over their child's care to prevent mistakes.
CONCLUSIONS:
Nearly two-thirds of surveyed parents felt the need to watch over their child's hospital care to prevent mistakes. Parents with greater self-efficacy with physician interactions were less likely to report the need to watch over their child's care while parents with lower English proficiency were more likely to report this need. Journal of Hospital Medicine 2009;4:521–527. © 2009 Society of Hospital Medicine.