Table 1

Participants' perceived definitions of medical errors

Serial No.
Definition categories
Definitions given by participants
Number (%)

1
Wrong prescription/dispensing of medication
Wrong medication
93 (34)
2
Wrong diagnosis
Wrong diagnosis
73 (26.5)
3
Doctors' technical in-competence
Wrong surgery
36 (13)


Technical incompetence*
10 (3.6)


Lack of doctor's experience*
7 (3)
4
Other staff technical in-competence (nurses and pharmacist)
Giving wrong injection
11 (4)


Pharmacist incompetence*
4 (1)
5
Others
Errors by doctors
5 (2)


Forgotten surgical items
2 (0.7)


Wrong vaccination
2 (0.7)


IV canula left in site for 25 days
1 (0.4)


Error in first aid
1 (0.4)


Wrong BP reading
1 (0.4)


Wrong procedure
1 (0.4)


Doctor ignorance*
14 (5)


Poor staff attitude*
4 (1)


Not updating patients*
2 (0.7)


Faulty equipment*
1 (0.4)


Doctors overload*
1 (0.4)


Slowness in giving care*
1 (0.4)


Nurses ignorance*
1 (0.4)


Wrong information by the patient+
1 (0.4)


Not following doctors advise+
1 (0.4)


Intake of un-prescribed medicine+
1 (0.4)


Intake of herbal medicine+
1 (0.4)

Total


275

Percents are out of total number (275). Please notice that some participants gave more than one definition.

* Causes of medical errors

+ Patient-related factor

Al-Mandhari et al. BMC Medical Ethics 2008 9:13   doi:10.1186/1472-6939-9-13