TY - JOUR
T1 - Medical negligence claims and the health and life satisfaction of Australian doctors
T2 - a prospective cohort analysis of the MABEL survey
AU - Bradfield, Owen M.
AU - Bismark, Marie
AU - Scott, Anthony
AU - Spittal, Matthew
N1 - Funding Information:
This research used data from the MABEL longitudinal survey of doctors. MABEL was developed by the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research and Monash University, Melbourne, Australia. Funding for MABEL was provided by the National Health and Medical Research Council (2007 to 2016: 454799 and 1019605); the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing (2008); Health Workforce Australia (2013) and in 2017 The University of Melbourne, Medibank Better Health Foundation, the NSW Ministry of Health and the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services. In 2018, funding was provided by the Australian Government Department of Health.
Funding Information:
Contributors OMB and MS developed the initial idea and methodology for the study and undertook the statistical analyses. They are also jointly responsible for the overall data as guarantors. AS provided technical expertise about the MABEL protocol and variables. MB assisted with the interpretation of results from a patient safety and doctors’ health perspective. MB and AS revised the draft critically for important intellectual content. All authors have given final approval for the article to be published. Funding OMB was funded by the Australian Government on a 2020 Melbourne Research Scholarship and is a 2020 Fulbright Future Scholar. MB was funded by the Australian Government on a National Health and Medical Research Council Investigator Grant (APP1195984). MS was funded by the Australian Government on an Australian Research Council Future Fellowship (FT180100075).
Funding Information:
Acknowledgements This research used data from the MABEL longitudinal survey of doctors. MABEL was developed by the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research and Monash University, Melbourne, Australia. Funding for MABEL was provided by the National Health and Medical Research Council (2007 to 2016: 454799 and 1019605); the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing (2008); Health Workforce Australia (2013) and in 2017 The University of Melbourne, Medibank Better Health Foundation, the NSW Ministry of Health and the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services. In 2018, funding was provided by the Australian Government Department of Health.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Re-use permitted under CC BY. Published by BMJ.
PY - 2022/5/19
Y1 - 2022/5/19
N2 - 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.
AB - 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.
KW - Health
KW - Health policy
KW - Medical law
KW - Mental health
KW - Public health
KW - Quality in health care
KW - Safety
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85130403506&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1136/bmjopen-2021-059447
DO - 10.1136/bmjopen-2021-059447
M3 - Article
C2 - 35589347
AN - SCOPUS:85130403506
SN - 2044-6055
VL - 12
JO - BMJ Open
JF - BMJ Open
IS - 5
M1 - e059447
ER -
