Defensive Medicine in the Management of Cesarean Delivery: A Survey among Italian Physicians
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
- (1)
- knowledge of defensive medicine;
- (2)
- attitudes and opinions towards CS;
- (3)
- role of woman’s will and maternal age in performing CS;
- (4)
- role of health facilities and influence of defensive medicine in deciding upon CS;
- (5)
- application of guidelines.
Statistical Analysis
3. Results
3.1. Knowledge and Economic Benefits of Defensive Medicine
3.2. Attitudes and Opinions towards CS
3.3. Role of the Mother’s Will and the Maternal Age in Performing CS
3.4. Role of Health Facilities and Influence of Defensive Medicine in Deciding upon CS
3.5. Application of the Guidelines
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
Abbreviations
References
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Participants | Age (Years) | Sex (%) | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
30–40 years | 40–50 years | 50–60 Years | 60–70 years | Male | Female | |
Respondent | 29.21% | 25.43% | 23.87% | 21.49% | 53.35% | 46.35% |
Non-respondent | 20.37% | 24.45% | 23.32% | 31.86% | 52.11% | 47.89% |
Participants | Type of Working Sector (%) | ||
---|---|---|---|
Public Hospitals | Private Hospitals | Both Public and Private hospitals | |
Respondent | 66.6% | 17.2% | 16% |
Yes | No | Do Not Know | |
---|---|---|---|
(1) Do you know what defensive medicine is? | 85.9% | 14.1% | 0% |
(2) Do you know any specificities of defensive medicine? | 73.3% | 21% | 5.7% |
(3) Do you think there is a higher risk of claims? | 99.41% | 0.59% | 0% |
(4) Do you think gynecology is a medical class at higher risk of claims? | 98.81% | 1.19% | 0% |
(5) Have you ever performed any positive type of defensive medicine? | 72.7% | 19.6% | 7.7% |
(6) Have you ever performed any negative type of defensive medicine? | 87.51% | 10.35% | 2.14% |
(7) Do you think that gynecologists/ostetricians prefer Cesarean Sections (CS) rather than the natural ones? | 91.4% | 5.6% | 3% |
(8) Do you think that natural childbirth is more dangerous than the CS? | 80% | 20% | 0% |
(9) Do you think that the CS is more dangerous than the natural childbirth? | 19% | 81% | 0% |
(10) Do you think that women’s will can influence their choice to resort to a CS? | 79.77% | 16.07% | 4.16% |
(11) Do you think that defensive medicine affects the cost of insurance? | 69.6% | 26.3% | 4.1% |
(12) Do you think that there can be a link between the percentage of CS and the internal organization of the places where births take place? | 86.91% | 9.52% | 3.57% |
(13) Do you think that the percentage of CS increases when the age of the mothers is higher? | 76.79% | 22.02% | 1.19% |
(14) Do you think that the percentage of CS is higher in the private sector? | 92.36% | 4.07% | 3.57% |
(15) Do you think that the high percentage of CS in Italy is strictly related to defensive medical phenomena? | 92.37% | 4.67% | 2.96% |
(16) Do you know the last guidelines about CS? | 97% | 3% | 0% |
(17) Do you think that the guidelines can help the specialists to make appropriate choices regarding the CS? | 74.42% | 17.85% | 7.73% |
(18) Have you ever been far from the instructions given by the guidelines as far as the mothers’ requests are concerned? | 63% | 37% | 0% |
(19) Have you ever decided not to follow the instructions given by the guidelines because of the fear of health complaints? | 71% | 24% | 5% |
(20) Do you think that the Italian law can reduce the health litigations? | 63% | 25% | 12% |
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Fineschi, V.; Arcangeli, M.; Di Fazio, N.; Del Fante, Z.; Fineschi, B.; Santoro, P.; Frati, P.; Associazione Consulcesi Health and ONLUS Futura Ricerca. Defensive Medicine in the Management of Cesarean Delivery: A Survey among Italian Physicians. Healthcare 2021, 9, 1097. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare9091097
Fineschi V, Arcangeli M, Di Fazio N, Del Fante Z, Fineschi B, Santoro P, Frati P, Associazione Consulcesi Health and ONLUS Futura Ricerca. Defensive Medicine in the Management of Cesarean Delivery: A Survey among Italian Physicians. Healthcare. 2021; 9(9):1097. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare9091097
Chicago/Turabian StyleFineschi, Vittorio, Mauro Arcangeli, Nicola Di Fazio, Zoe Del Fante, Benedetta Fineschi, Paola Santoro, Paola Frati, and Associazione Consulcesi Health and ONLUS Futura Ricerca. 2021. "Defensive Medicine in the Management of Cesarean Delivery: A Survey among Italian Physicians" Healthcare 9, no. 9: 1097. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare9091097