Medical negligence-perception among undergraduate medical students: a cross-sectional study from Vijayapura, North Karnataka, India

Authors

  • Shamin Eabenson Department of Community Medicine, BLDE (DU) Shri B. M. Patil Medical College Hospital and Research Centre, Vijaypura, Karnataka, India https://orcid.org/0009-0002-6516-7234
  • M. R. Gudadinni Department of Community Medicine, BLDE (DU) Shri B. M. Patil Medical College Hospital and Research Centre, Vijaypura, Karnataka, India
  • M. C. Yadavannavar Department of Community Medicine, BLDE (DU) Shri B. M. Patil Medical College Hospital and Research Centre, Vijaypura, Karnataka, India
  • A. M. Rangoli Department of Community Medicine, BLDE (DU) Shri B. M. Patil Medical College Hospital and Research Centre, Vijaypura, Karnataka, India

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18203/2320-6012.ijrms20261476

Keywords:

Community medicine, Medical education, Medical negligence

Abstract

Background: Medical negligence is a grave concern both to patients and the medical fraternity. Lapses in concentration, stress, burnout, gross misconduct, lack of knowledge or application, sleeplessness, overwork, lack of continuing medical education can all lead to medical negligence. The trauma experienced by both the victim and the person causing the mistake is traumatic. Medical negligence should be minimised by the application of standard operating procedures, training, work scheduling and provision of support in time of need. Medical students, the future doctors of tomorrow have to cope with the stress they encounter during medical studies and practice. The dearth of knowledge about this issue needs to be studied to find out remedies and alleviate this problem altogether,

Methods: Cross-sectional study involving 151 medical students of BLDE DU Shri B M Patil Medical College and Research Centre, Vijayapura, North Karnataka, India. Convenience sampling method was used in this study.

Results: 151 medical students were part of this study; socio demographic profile indicates that the majority of the participants belonged to male gender 78 (51.7%) and 73 (48.3%) females. The majority of the participants were from urban areas 126 (83.4%) followed by rural 25 (16.6%). Most of the participants belonged to the age group 18-22 years, Knowledge Grading showed that 95 (62.9%) had good knowledge

Conclusions: Medical negligence and its causative factors need to be studied in detail to sensitize future doctors to bring a sea change to this situation.

References

Madan R, Das N, Patley R, Nagpal N, Malik Y, Math SB. Consequences of medical negligence and litigations on health care providers: a narrative review. Indian J Psychiatry. 2024;66(4):317–25.

Alghrani A, Bramhall S, Griffith R, Lim J, Ost DE, Wright AJ, et al. Balancing the scales of safety: the criminal law’s impact on patient safety and error reduction. Br J Oral Maxillofac Surg. 2024;62:229–34.

Pollock JR, Shappell E, Sandefur BJ, Moore ML, Lindor RA. Medical malpractice cases involving medical students. Acad Med. 2024;99:1108–13.

Arbel E, Reese A, Oh K, Mishra A. Medical law and medical school curricula: a systematic review. Cureus. 2024;16:59589.

Miziara ID, Miziara CSMG. Medical errors, medical negligence and defensive medicine: a narrative review. Clinics (Sao Paulo). 2022;77:100053.

Ademe Y, Deneke A, Bekele A. Malpractice awareness among surgeons and surgical trainees in Ethiopia. Ethiop J Health Sci. 2022;32(5):1037–46.

Hirachan N, Shrestha N. Knowledge, attitude and practice of medical ethics among doctors and nurses in Pokhara Valley, Nepal. Kathmandu Univ Med J. 2022;20(80):351–5.

Nikkhahmanesh N, Kang P, VanSonnenberg E. Evaluating medical students’ knowledge of medical malpractice: a pilot study. Int J Med Stud. 2023;11(3):276–80.

Thai A, Huynh K, Pickering T, Maron A, Wang L, Stohl H. Does malpractice risk deter medical students from pursuing obstetrics and gynecology. Cureus. 2025;17:67921.

Rodziewicz TL, Houseman B, Vaqar S, Hipskind JE. Medical error reduction and prevention. In: StatPearls. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing. 2025. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK499956/. Accessed on 12 May 2026.

Alandajani A, Khalid B, Ng YG, Banakhar M. Knowledge and attitudes regarding medication errors among nurses: a cross-sectional study in major Jeddah hospitals. Nurs Rep. 2022;12(4):1023–30.

Rani V. Knowledge and attitude about medical ethics among undergraduate medical students: a cross-sectional comparative study. Indian J Health Sci Biomed Res. 2022;15(2):131–5.

Alser M, Böttcher B, Alfaqawi M, Jlambo A, Abuzubaida W, Abu-El-Noor N. Undergraduate medical students’ attitudes towards medical errors and patient safety. BMC Med Educ. 2020;20:206.

Al-Sawalha I, Al-Haik S, Al-Sawalha B, Al-Haik A, Al-Sawalha M, Al-Haik M, et al. Attitudes of undergraduate medical students toward patient safety in Jordan: a multicenter cross-sectional study. BMC Med Educ. 2023;3:145.

Dahlawi S, Menezes RG, Khan MA, Waris A, Saifullah, Naseer MM, et al. Medical negligence in healthcare organizations and its impact on patient safety and public health: a bibliometric study. F1000Res. 2021;10:174.

West CP, Dyrbye LN, Shanafelt TD. Physician burnout: contributors, consequences and solutions. J Intern Med. 2018;283(6):516–29.

Pai SN, Jeyaraman M, Jeyaraman N, Yadav S. The new Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita laws: progress or pitfall for doctors? Cureus. 2024;16:55678.

Downloads

Published

2026-05-14

How to Cite

Eabenson, S., Gudadinni, M. R., Yadavannavar, M. C., & Rangoli, A. M. (2026). Medical negligence-perception among undergraduate medical students: a cross-sectional study from Vijayapura, North Karnataka, India. International Journal of Research in Medical Sciences. https://doi.org/10.18203/2320-6012.ijrms20261476

Issue

Section

Original Research Articles