Defensive Medicine in Health Practices

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the attitudes of physicians working in an Training and research hospital to defensive approaches in health practices and the factors that are reflected in the practice. Materials and methods: In the study, the descriptive study conducted in Sakarya University Training and Research Hospital by face to face interview with physicians working in different clinics. The study group consisted of 68 physicians who accepted to participate in the study. The attitudes of the physicians towards defensive approaches were evaluated through a questionnaire form including Defensive Medicine (DM) practices. Results: In our study, 81.54% of physicians kept very detailed records, 69.64% were reluctant to make a medical error, 79.41% were inclined to request non-essential tests, 78.13% had a tendency to reject high-risk interventions, 80.88% it was determined that 95.45% of the patients had a positive attitude towards the physicians and 74.63% of the patients were worried about the new TCK. Conclusions: As a result, it was determined that most of the physicians who participated in the study had the anxiety of seeing the potential plaintiffs of each patient, they tend to want the tests which are not required, and they tend to refuse high-risk interventions. Sensitive review of the relevant legal regulations, clear separation of complication / malpractice status and implementation of the physicians at the point of ethical values of the application of the DM was also considered to be effective