Awareness and understanding among patients about patient safety in India: A cross-sectional questionnaire-based study

Background There is a dearth of studies from India evaluating the awareness of patient safety. This study was performed to gain insight into the Indian patients' awareness about patient safety and evaluate their willingness in promoting the same. Methods In this cross-sectional study, online interactive sessions pertaining to patient safety and patient safety culture were arranged by clinical pharmacologists for 800 urban patients post-discharge from a tertiary care hospital in India. A validated questionnaire was used, and the responses were analysed using descriptive statistics. Results A total of 635 patients [mean age, 43.2 +/- 10.3 years; 385 (60.6%) males] responded. A total of 93.4% of the patients were aware of the term "patient safety" and 35.3% faced situations where they felt that patient safety was compromised. Of these patients, 64.3% reported to higher authorities when faced with such situations, while the remaining either ignored the issue or had no idea about how to deal with the same. A total of 99.2% of the patients never participated in any patient safety program; nevertheless, 94.5% of them were willing to participate in the same. Accessibility to information about patient care was deemed essential by 58.3% of the patients. Conclusions Although the overall awareness about patient safety among urban Indian patients is high, there is a lack of awareness about ways of dealing with patient safety issues. Given the high level of interest in participating in patient safety programs, such programs should routinely include patients for optimizing the chances for safer provision of health care.