21 / 10 / 2021
La Directora del Instituto de Ciencias Básicas, Sara Arancibia, participa como autora junto a cinco médicos de la Universidad de Chile en el artículo titulado “Determinants of the intention to speak up about medical error in primary healthcare settings in Chile”, publicado en la Revista Health and Social Care indexada en WoS Q1.
Abstract: Medical error frequently occurs in ambulatory care, and healthcare professionals may encounter situations in which they need to speak up to ensure better practice. This study aims to investigate the factors that influenced the intention to speak up about medical errors among healthcare professionals in primary care settings. Data were generated through a national crosssectional survey of primary healthcare centers in the Republic of Chile. A research instrument was designed using the constructs of the theory of planned behavior and was analyzed using the structural equation model technique. In total, 203 healthcare professionals were recruited between March and May 2020. The model showed that the intention to speak up was directly and positively influenced by attitudes towards speaking up and perceived control. Subjective norms indirectly and negatively influenced the intention to speak up through attitudes towards speaking up and perceived control. The exploratory construct of willingness to change self-behaviour positively influenced the attitude towards behaviour. The intention to speak up strongly influenced the speaking up behaviour (total effect SD = 0.631). The proposed model explained 40% of the variance in behaviour. Based on this model, it was concluded that the intention to speak up strongly influenced the speaking up behaviour and predicted it by 40%. Factors that modify the intention to speak up are expected to influence the occurrence of this behavior. This knowledge will inform strategies to enhance communication among healthcare professionals, improve speaking up behaviour and improve patient care.