Analysis of the psychological impact of medical disputes on clinical doctors and a discussion of counter-measures / 中华医院管理杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective Identifying the factors of psychological pressure from medical disputes on clinical doctors and possible solutions. Methods Self-rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) and the Occupational Stress Indicator (OSI) were called into play, to study 52 clinical doctors in a tertiary hospital in a city, who had encountered medical disputes in recent two years. In parallel, 63 clinical doctors without such disputes and 50 non-clinical workers were randomly selected as the control group for questionnaires. Results Clinical doctors with such an experience were commonly found to be anxious, and their SAS score (58. 27±11.38)averaged higher than those in the control group. Doctor-patient relationship, legal liabilities and clinical positions were found to be positively correlated to psychological pressure of clinical doctors. Conclusions Medical disputes tend to add to psychological pressure of the doctors. Clinical doctors deserve psychological counseling and training and improvement of their working conditions.