Survey of the Causes and Solutions to Reduce Defensive Medicine in View of Residents in Mashhad University of Medical Sciences in 2016

Defensive medicine is concerned with decisions made to avoid errors that could result in serious consequences in terms of quality of care and efficient use of scarce health resources. This study aimed to investigate the causes of this phenomenon and provide solutions to reduce it from the perspective of residents in Mashhad University of Medical Sciences.
This descriptive analytical study was conducted with all residents in Mashhad University of Medical Sciences in 2015. Data were collected using a researcher-made questionnaire, and analyzed in SPSS-20 using descriptive and analytical statistics including Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney tests at significance level
Defensive medicine was mostly adopted to avoid being sued by patients (87.2%) and least due to lack of liability insurance, to prevent loss of capital, to teach defensive medicine in treatment-diagnostic procedures (43.7%). Furthermore 6 overall strategies to reduce defensive medicine were proposed by residents, which included: applying legal protections for physicians, evidence-based medicine, create a database of patient data, Familiarizing with the concept of community defensive medicine, reinforcing teamwork and improving the treatment of complaints.
The results obtained suggest high level of defensive medicine among residents in Mashhad University of Medical Sciences. Accordingly, it is recommended that training be provided to eliminate this phenomenon, and doctors be steered toward its positive aspects. Furthermore, defensive medicine behaviors can be reduced through simple measures.